


Starfall

by VenomousEtymology



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: BAMF Lance (Voltron), Gen, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Light Angst, Quintessence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-04-07 19:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 74,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14088153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenomousEtymology/pseuds/VenomousEtymology
Summary: On a seemingly low-risk mission to a Galra science station, Haggar unexpectedly appears, complicating the operation. In the aftermath, one paladin in particular struggles with his place on the team.





	1. Hack

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So, this is my first time writing anything on Ao3, and uhhh... well, I like to consider myself a decent writer, but there's a world of difference between "I think I can write things" and "I can actually write things." But, writing is kind of therapeutic to me, so here goes.  
> I am an unfortunately solitary individual, and thus have no one to beta my writing (and also I'm 19 and was vaguely queerbaited into watching this damn show), so there may be a few typos or uncaught edits. Still, I hope you enjoy.

Lance frowned as he looked up at the watchtower, checking his route up. No obvious tricks, fair distance out from the rest of the facility, and most importantly, an excellent vantage point at the top. Jumping up the ladder, he started to climb.

“Everyone in position?” Shiro’s voice crackled from the comms.

“Hunk and I are ready,” Keith’s voice replied.

“I’m good to go,” Pidge whispered next.

After a brief pause, Shiro spoke again. “Lance? Come in.”

“I’ll be up-- in a few-- seconds,” Lance said breathlessly as he scaled the ladder.

“Alright team, let’s go. Pidge, start the hack.” The comms went dead as the infiltration began.

Lance, from his position on the ladder, surveyed the surrounding area. This facility was positioned near a rocky cliff overlooking an ocean. Yellow fields of grass spanned in every other direction for as far as the eye could see; perfect for lookout duty. As he neared the top, Lance paused as he heard voices.

“...like it here, actually. It’s much calmer than the last place I was stationed,” a deep, gritty voice said.

“Really? I think it’s boring as quiznack.” a lighter voice said.

The other voice laughed. “I remember when I had just been conscripted, I couldn’t get enough action. When you start to get more experience, you start to value more peace and quiet.”

“Huh.” The other voice sounded doubtful. “Well, I guess.”

Lance stood stock-still as he listened. Although he was normally very twitchy, during missions it was much easier to channel that energy into other things. Allura had said this was a minor weapons tech facility, but these were clearly flesh and blood galra. In a base like this, drones should have been doing all the work except for administrative.

Quickly and quietly, Lance scaled the last few rungs until he was just below the the voices. He peered up over the edge to confirm that there were only two galra, then climbed over the edge. The two galra stood at the very edge of the tower, overlooking the ocean, which conveniently put their backs to Lance. With a brief moment of concentration, Lance morphed his bayard into two pistols and fired two stun bolts at the galra. Although they were at war, Lance still had trouble killing galra in cold blood like this. He reserved that for the heat of open battle, and even then it still ate at him sometimes.

With both galra down, Lance opened up comms again. “Uh, hey guys? There’s a thing.”

“Lance? Are you in trouble?” Shiro responded

“Nah, I’m fine, but there were two galra at the top of the watchtower.”

There was a pause. “So, what’s the problem?”

“Well, usually these towers are only manned by drones.”

Another pause. “Okay, thanks for the update. Are you set up?”

Lance was quiet for a second as he morphed his bayard back to a sniper rifle. “Yep, good to go.”

“Alright, tell me if something happens. We should be done in roughly an hour.”

Lance opened his mouth to say something else, but then shut it. That was Shiro’s code for ‘don’t bother us unless something _actually important_ happens,’ and chances were that the galra-manned watchtower wasn’t anything serious. As the self-proclaimed sharpshooter, Lance was the go-to paladin for look out duty, which, although was probably for the best, always left him feeling a little sidelined.

Still, it was easy to forget as the salty ocean breeze washed over him from the top of the watchtower. Lance smiled. Many (although there were exceptions) life-sustaining planets were actually a lot like earth; oxygen atmosphere and salty oceans. If he closed his eyes, it might as well have been home. An uncomfortable tenseness curled around his stomach, but he pushed it down as his eyes snapped open. The breeze was nice, but he had a job to do. _Well, kind of a job,_ Lance amended. While occasionally he did play the role of the crazy ninja sharpshooter, sniping down reinforcements trying to enter the base, mostly it was just this. Although Lance had been practicing with the dual pistols for short-mid range, he was still usually the lookout.

It was easy for Lance to stay focused while actively engaged in a task, but looking out over the fields and the ocean, his mind started to wander. What would he be doing if he were in there with the rest of the team? He could imagine himself striding forward, dual pistols in hand, shooting down drone after drone, to clear the way with Hunk. Or, back to back with Keith, shooting while Keith slashed through the oncoming horde. Sneaking through to the server room with Pidge, the two of them silent as cats. He continued daydreaming for a while, occasionally checking his  wristpiece for the time.

A sudden scream of an engine passing overhead jolted Lance back to reality. He crouched down and propped his bayard on the guard rail, scanning the area. A galra ship was coming down to land outside the facility. Lance opened comms immediately. “Shiro?”

Lance could faintly hear the sound of alarms and blaster shots, but Shiro’s voice cut through them. “What is it, Lance?”

“A galra ship is landing just outside the base.”

“Pidge is close to getting the information we need. Can you keep them out?”

Lance glanced over the gates to the facility. “Probably for a little while.”

“Alright. Keep me posted.”

“Okay.” The comms went off, and everything was quiet again. The gates to the facility were on a seperate power grid than the rest of the system, which meant that with a few well placed shots, Lance could easily shut down the gates, keeping the intruders out for quite a while. _Wire panel… down. Generator… down. Battery… down._ Lance grinned as the lights along the facility wall went out. _Try getting through that._ Lance looked back to the galra ship, whose doors were just now opening. Two soldiers on either side, and… Lance’s blood ran cold as he saw the three masked figures walking towards the gate. Druids. Lance doubted the gate trick would keep them out for long. “Uh, hey Shiro?”

“What is it now, Lance?” Lance cringed at the hint of annoyance in their leader’s tone.

“There are three druids heading towards the gate. I… don’t think I can--” Lance cursed inwardly at the hesitation in his voice.

“Lance. It’s okay. You’ve got this.” _Well, at least one of us thinks so._  “Do you think you can snipe them all before they can put up their shields?”

“I-- maybe? Don’t druids always have their shield thingies up?”

“Only when they realize there’s a threat. Pidge is just a few minutes to extraction.”

“Alright, I’ll take a shot at it then.” Lance grinned at the pun while Shiro groaned, then laughed.

“Okay, we’ll see you soon.”

Lance took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. _Shiro believes in you. You can do this. Don’t worry._ His breathing slowed as the wall lights hummed back to life, probably through some druid energy. He held his breath entirely as the gates slid open. In quick succession, Lance shot three perfect shots, one for each masked figure. Lance tensed, a thrill of adrenaline racing through him as the three druids fell.

Wait… the middle druid was only crouched. As it stood back up, Lance fired another two shots at it, heart going wild. Both shots fizzle against the druid’s now fully conjured shield. Lance’s eyes widened as the druid looked up, directly towards his position. Given where the shots had come from, and the surrounding area, it had to be blatantly obvious where he was. The druid reached a clawed hand up to its mask to remove it, and suddenly Lance knew why his shot had failed.

Just as he turned on the comms, an icy lance shot into his head, freezing his mind. He could feel the joyless mirth as Haggar grinned up at him, freezing him and preventing him from warning his team. The cold, unwelcome feeling grew overpowering, and Lance’s eyesight dimmed as he fought to stay awake. _You need… to warn them…_ Lance gritted his teeth as the presence in his head grew dark and painful, attempting to force his consciousness into darkness. _I… will not…_ mustering all his effort and energy, Lance felt something give way as he pushed back with everything he had, and suddenly the force freezing his body was gone. “Shiro, Haggar is here! She’s almost…” Lance felt sudden exhaustion wash over him as his words trailed off, and he finally faded into unconsciousness.

* * *

 

Back in the command console of the facility, Shiro’s blood ran cold as the Cuban boy’s voice went silent. “Pidge, how close are you to done?” he yelled out over the sound of Hunk’s cannon rounds.

“Almost… done!.. There we go! Let’s blow this quiznak stand!” Pidge yelled back, pulling her device off of the console.

“Lance is in trouble! We need to get up to him now!”

“What? Shiro, what happened? Where is he?” yelled Keith, standing next to Pidge.

“Wait, Lance?” Hunk said over the cannon blasts. “Shiro, what’s wrong? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine, for now!” Shiro said, praying that it was true. “But we need to get to him now!”

With Shiro leading the charge, the four of them dashed towards the exit. Just as they rounded the corner to the door, it slid open as Haggar strode in. Her eyes narrowed as Shiro, fueled by adrenaline and worry, charged her. With a crack, she teleported outside of the building into the yard of the compound. Shiro sprinted out, scanning for Lance. Movement by the watchtower caught his eye. His heart pounded he saw an unconscious Lance being carried by two galra soldiers toward the facility’s gate. “Keith! Go get Lance, now!”

“But, Shiro, Haggar is right--”

“Keith I need you to do this!” Biting off another complaint, Keith ran towards the galra carrying Lance away.

“Pidge, how long until your lion gets here?”

“20 seconds! Maybe less!”

20 seconds. 20 seconds to hold off the most powerful known being in the galaxy. Shiro glanced back at Pidge and Hunk. He needed to keep them out of danger; neither of them could last long against Haggar. “Okay, both of you stay behind me! Hunk, if you get a clear shot, cover fire and keep her on the defensive! Pidge, make sure your lion can get us out of here immediately when it gets here!”

A bolt of energy arced towards him, but he rolled out of the way. He looked up, but Haggar was gone. Looking around frantically, Shiro turned as Pidge screamed. Haggar was standing over her, grinning malevolently as Pidge twitched on the ground, her armor sparking with small, weak arcs of electricity. A fearsome roar echoed overhead as the green lion appeared overhead. Haggar teleported again, appearing next to Keith, who was dragging Lance towards them. An equally fearsome roar came from behind him, as Hunk wound up his cannon, firing over and over at her. The Hawaiian’s normally gentle countenance was set in rage, and Haggar was caught behind her shield, unable to let it down while the green lion landed next to Pidge. Gently lifting Pidge up, Shiro carried her into the lion, then returned to help Keith with Lance.

“Hunk! Everyone’s safe! Get on!”

Hunk glanced back, then backed up slowly, still firing the cannon. As soon as he was safely on board, the lion lifted up and flew off as Haggar stared them down, malevolent grin still visible from under her hood.

Only when the facility was barely visible on the ground did Shiro finally let loose a breathe he didn’t know he’d been holding. Standing up shakily, he walked over to Pidge, cradling her tiny body as he took off her helmet. “Hey, Pidge. You okay?”

Her eyes barely opened, and her mouth moved slowly, nothing coming out. She cleared her throat, and tried again. “Lance… was right,” she croaked. “You totally are Space Dad.” Shiro smiled as she continued speaking. “But, yeah. I’m okay. That really quiznacking hurt, though.” Shiro helped her sit up, then turned to the rest of the team. Keith was sitting in the corner of the lion, alone, and looking away from him. Shiro walked over to him.

“Hey bud. What’s wrong?”

Keith didn’t turn to look at him as he spoke. “Why didn’t you let me fight Haggar with you? We had the chance to take her out right there! I-- I can--”

Shiro interrupted him, putting his hand on his shoulder. “Hey, Keith. Look at me.” Keith turned towards him, but looked at the ground. “Keith, you’re an amazing fighter. But Haggar is… on another level. I don’t think we can take her on until we learn a lot more about quintessence, and develop more as a team. Besides, if Lance had been captured by the galra…” He trailed off, but Keith took the message.

“I… I know. I mean, I guess. It’s just… I wish we could just…”

“Yeah, me too, kiddo.” Shiro turned towards the remaining two paladins. Hunk was crouched next to Lance, who was still out cold. “Hey, Hunk. How is he doing?”

Hunk looked up, worry etched on his face. “He… He’s breathing. But he isn’t waking up.”

Shiro crouched down to look at the unconscious Cuban boy. “I don’t think Haggar had enough time or motivation to do anything serious to him. He’ll probably wake up soon, and if he doesn’t, a pod will fix him up.”

“I… yeah, you’re probably right. No point in worrying, right?” Hunk seemed to try to smile at him, but then gave up halfway through.

The rest of the ride back was quiet, and exhausted. By the time they got back to the castle, Pidge had regained full mobility, but Lance was still unconscious. Allura and Coran greeted them in the hangar.

“Welcome back, paladins! How did the mission--” Allura cut off as she saw Shiro carrying the unconscious Lance in his arms. “Oh, dear. Coran, do we have a pod prepped?”

Coran took Lance from Shiro, worry creasing his forehead. “Of course, princess. I’ll take him right there.” The doors hissed as Coran carried Lance out of the hangar.

“Well, I daresay you all could use some rest. You all had best relax until dinner.” Hunk, Pidge and Keith walked out of the hangar, leaving Shiro and Allura alone. “Did Pidge at least get the information?” Allura asked.

“Yes.”

“Well… there is that, at least. What happened to Lance?”

Shiro looked at the hangar door for a second before answering. “To be honest… I’m not sure. Near the end of the mission, he warned us that Haggar was entering the compound.” Allura’s eyes went wide. “He cut off right after. When we got out of the building, we saw two galra soldiers carrying him out to their ship. Keith managed to get them before they left with him, though.” There was a heavy pause.

“Do you have any idea why Haggar was there?” Allura asked.

Shiro thought back. It had been clear that the facility was more than it appeared when they saw the vats of quintessence in one of the rooms they passed. “I think the facility had something to do with quintessence. There were tanks of it being stored there. It still doesn’t explain why Haggar herself was there, but…”

Allura was silent for a few seconds. “Perhaps Pidge’s data will explain it.”

Shiro nodded. “I hope so.”

“Well, you could use some rest yourself. I imagine you are just as tired, if not more so, as the rest of the paladins.”

“Of course, princess.” Shiro smiled.

After some light exercise and a long shower, Shiro was on his way to the bridge when he ran into Coran. “Hey, Coran.”

“Why, hello number five! Lance is set to wake up in a couple of vargas. Thought you ought to know.” Coran said, though some of his usual chipperness was missing from his voice. “How did the mission go?”

“Pidge got the information, but we ran into Haggar on the way out. Lance and Pidge were hit the hardest, though Pidge had recovered by the time we got back to the castle.”

“Ah.” Coran’s eyes narrowed. “Well, I am glad you all escaped.” There was a tense silence before Coran spoke again. “I had best go tend to the castle’s mechanics to prep for our next jump. I suppose I will see you at dinner?”

“Yeah, see you then.”

* * *

 

Lance awoke suddenly as the pod opened, to the dimmed lights of the medbay. He stepped into the empty room, shivering, and cursed silently. Would it kill someone to stand here with a blanket when he wakes up? Or a hug? A hug would be nice. He shivered some more, and then yawned. _Okay, time to get some warmer clothes on._

While changing into his regular clothes, Lance checked the time. It was dinner. No wonder no one had been there when he woke up. His mind flashed back to other times he’d woken up from the healing pod alone. _Well, they have a lot to worry about._ His stomach rumbled. _Like food._

As he walked toward the kitchen, the voices of the other paladins and the two Alteans carried into the hall.

“--haven’t gone through it all, but it’s all about quintessence weaponry, including robeast experimentation.” Pidge’s voice could be heard. “Of course, Allura and Coran would know more about that than I would. There are a lot of studies. Lot of experiments.”

“Hmm,” Allura said. “That would explain the presence of Haggar.” _And two other druids,_ Lance thought.

“And apparently two other druids,” Shiro added. Lance smiled.

“Wait, you fought two druids as well as Haggar!?”

“No, Lance reported seeing three druids entering the facility. I told him to take them down, and when he next spoke, it was to tell me that Haggar was there.”

“...wait, Lance took down two other druids? By himself?” Lance could hear the skepticism in Allura’s voice.

“As long as he caught them off guard, it would have been simple,” Shiro said.

“Sounds like Lance’s typical bragging,” Keith’s voice cut in. Lance’s smile sank.

“Huh,” Shiro said, sounding doubtful. “Maybe. He did sound pretty worked up when he told me about them.”

“Hey, if Lance shot them before they got their shields up, they wouldn’t have a chance, right?” Hunk countered.

“So then Lance would have had to shoot three times within a time period in which the remaining druids wouldn’t be alerted,” reasoned Pidge. “And with enough accuracy to hit all three of them fatally. If he did that, it would be really impressive.”

“Were there any druid corpses nearby?” Allura asked.

Keith snorted. “No.”

“Not that I saw,” said Shiro.

Coran’s voice cut through the debate. “I, personally, find it in incredible poor taste to criticize your fellow paladin like this. Lance may enjoy storytelling, and sometimes bragging, but he does not lie. And certainly not about such important matters as this.”

Lance stood outside the doorway, his face blank, and his mind cold. He was too hungry to deal with whatever shit his teammates thought of him right now. Best to just walk in like nothing had happened.

“What’s up guys? Didja miss me?” Lance said as he walked in. Hunk, thank the lord, had prepared a tuber dish, ingredients courtesy of the last planet they had stopped at.

“Who let him out of the pod,” Pidge deadpanned, but stood up and hugged him.

“Lance!” said Hunk. “I saved you some mystery tuber surprise.”

“From anyone else, I would sooner die than accept ‘mystery tuber surprise,’ but you, my friend, are a legend,” Lance decreed, flopping down in his chair and digging in to the, as per usual, delicious meal.

“I hear,” said Coran, looking proudly at Lance, “That you shot down two druids before they could even get their shields up.”

“Oh,” mumbled Lance through a mouthful of mystery tuber surprise. “Yeah, they weren’t really expecting anyone to, well, snipe them while they were at their own base.” As he relayed the tale, Lance noticed Keith’s head was cocked as he listened, as if his doubt had been more for show than actual disbelief. “Hey, after I… was out, how’d everything go?”

“We had to fight Haggar while the green lion came to get us,” said Shiro. “Pidge got a nasty shock, but other than that, we made it out fine with the information.”

“Oh, awesome! I thought you all might have had to cut it short to save my beautiful face, but that’s great.” Lance grinned as Pidge snorted and pushed his head.

“As if your face is worth half of the information I got,” Pidge exclaimed.

Lance stared at her in mock outrage “I will have you know that this godlike countenance is worth more than a million times the information you collected from that base!”

“Godlike, as in Hephaestus?” butted in Keith.

Pidge cackled as Lance stared at Keith in shock. “Did you just ancient history roast me? I don’t even think I can get mad at that. Angsty Mullet over here just ancient-history roasted me. Wow.”

Keith looked down, but he was smiling as Pidge fell over in her chair from “angsty mullet.” Shiro put his hand over his face in exasperation, but he was also smiling. “Alright, let’s talk business for a while.”

“Oh, Shiro, I’ve been waiting for you to make a move! Why, I just don’t know what to say--” Lance said in a breathy tone of voice as Pidge disappeared under the table, cackling the whole time. Allura glared at him as Shiro’s second hand went up to cover his face as he gave a deep, long-suffering sigh.

“Okay please can we focus,” he said exasperatedly. “Tomorrow, we’ll be on a diplomatic mission to an alien race called the Meriades. They look a lot like us, and their culture is based on honor and profession, a lot like England’s old monarchy. Lance, that means no flirting.”

“How about courting?”

“No.”

“Are you positive.”

“Extremely.”

Allura cut in. “Lance, this is vitally important to the coalition, thus to the fate of the universe. If you cannot control yourself, you will remain aboard the castle.”

Something twisted in Lance’s gut. “Of course, princess. I was joking.”

“Sometimes that seems to be all you do.” Allura stared pointedly at him.

Lance looked down as Shiro continued. “The ruling family has been considering tying in with both the galra empire and the coalition, and we believe a personal visit may sway their decision in our favor. They have agreed to host us for three rotations to discuss things. Tomorrow, before we land, Allura will go over the schedule. Any questions?”

“Yeah, it seems--” Lance started off, before Shiro interrupted him.

“Any _real_ questions?”

The twist in Lance’s gut grew a little tighter, but he maintained a friendly smile. “Uh, yeah. It seems like if this society is considering both the empire and the coalition, should we be careful about possible betrayal?”

Shiro looked at him confusedly. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Lance continued, “Wouldn’t they want to do what gives them the biggest, baddest advantage possible? If we go to stay there for three days, it would be a perfect opportunity for them to con and capture us and give us over to the galra, which would put them super high in the galra’s favourite list.”

Shiro looked at him for a while, considering what he had said, before Allura answered him. “An… interesting idea, but as Shiro just told you, the Meriades are a very honor-bound society. Such deception would go directly against their morals.”

Lance frowned, but nodded. That made sense… mostly. And if there were a few problems, well, he’d just have to keep close lookout. As always.

“Thanks, Allura,” Shiro finished. “Alright, with that out of the way, any other questions?” When no one came forward, he continued. “Well then, see you all tomorrow! And be sure to get some sleep tonight,” he said, glaring at Pidge, who muttered something incomprehensible under her breath. As they all disbanded, Lance was the only one who felt subtly out of place.

* * *

 

As soon as Lance stepped into the main hangar, Blue’s love and appreciation washed over him. Lance felt a tenseness he hadn’t even noticed was there disperse as he stepped into his Lion’s personal hangar, where he walked over to a giant paw, and flopped down onto it. For a hunk of sentient machinery, Blue was actually surprisingly soft. Lance assumed it was just his bond talking.

“Hey, beautiful.” Lance said, exhaustion evident in his voice. “You know, for having spent so much time in the healing pod, you’d think I would be less tired out.” He shared with Blue what had happened throughout the day, from the two galra lookouts and their conversation, to his attempt at sniping Haggar herself, to the interactions he’d had with his team.

Immense pride flowed through from her as he described his mental battle with Haggar. “Well, at least someone acknowledges my amazingness.” He gave a small smile. “Just kidding. It was really hard, but… I couldn’t lose, you know? I couldn’t let her catch them unaware in her own creepy lab. It’s hard to think that if I truly mess up, we all could die, but… I think we came pretty close today.” Lance recalled the surge of mental energy. “Was that you helping me, Blue?” Blue purred back, and her reply was as obvious as if she’d spoken as clear as Allura.

_That was all you. I told you, I have the best paladin._ Lance smiled, a true smile this time.

“Thanks, Blue. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Warmth flowed through their bond. _Nor I you._

They sat like that for a while, simply enjoying each others’ presence, before Lance spoke again. “So, we’re going on a diplomatic mission tomorrow. Sounds like fun. Shiro has stated very, very specifically that I am, on no account, allowed to flirt with _anyone whatsoever_ , and Allura has made it clear that they will, at the drop of a hat, ground me if I do.” Blue’s amusement was evident in her next sentiment.

_As if they could survive three whole days without you._

“Pfft. As if.” He smiled, but Blue could sense the sentiment behind it.

_You know, they couldn’t live without you for long. They may survive, but you are the one that makes that survival bearable. Why continue to fight when there is no love, no laughter, no light to fight for?_

Lance paused and opened his eyes to look up at her. “I… hope you’re right, Blue.”

_I know I am._

* * *

 

“You know, Allura, I think you sell him short.”

“Aside from Coran, you and I know better than anyone else how high the stakes are… Perhaps I do sell him short, Shiro, but sometimes I feel as if I have no choice. I feel as though he treats this war, and its pieces, as nothing but a joke, or a game. And that… seems to disrespect all that I, and you, have lost.”

“Maybe you’re right, but he’s smart when he puts his mind to things. Like today at the dinner table.”

“His only partially meaningful addition to the conversation at dinner was his question about a potential betrayal, and even that could have been avoided if he had listened to your explanation of Meriadian culture.”

“Allura, you can’t--”

“I’m sorry… that was… uncalled for, and uncharitable. I simply… this war… it is everything to me. When I see someone else joking and playing in the middle of it… I get upset.”

“I know, Allura. And I understand, too. I’ll talk with him, see if I can make him take this a bit more seriously.”

* * *

 

“Hey, Hunk…”

“Yeah, Pidge?”

“Do you ever feel like Allura and Shiro are too dismissive of Lance?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to say it, but yes.”

“I mean… at dinner today, Allura just totally shot down a completely valid and well thought out concern and made it sound as if Lance hadn’t even been paying attention. What if it _is_ a trap? Seems like that would be a brilliant thing to do. Ensure your society’s protection and shoot yourself into the good graces of your rulers, all with one move.”

“Yeah, I would be lying if I said it doesn’t sound a little suspicious to me. Allura and Shiro seem to have this image of Lance in their minds of just a total goof-off and idiot, but… well, he got into the Galaxy Garrison, even though English isn’t even his first language. And I’ve known him for ages. I know how smart he is. Not real technical-- could you pass me that screwdriver?-- but he’s very strategically and socially minded.”

“I remember when I first met Lance, I thought he was a goof-off too. I wondered how someone like him could ever have gotten into the Garrison, but after a little while I started to notice the things he does. Remember when Iverson was screaming me into the floorboards, and Lance just came up and somehow managed to direct all his attention at himself? Or when he talked us out of a month’s worth of detention for sneaking off school property?”

“I remember when you were too wound up from finals week to realize you needed sleep, he got you to turn away from your computer and talk to him long enough that you ended up knocked out right there.”

“I was furious in the morning.”

“The next morning you woke up, which I think was a full twenty hours later.”

“...”

“Anyways, yeah, Allura and Shiro have been pretty harsh to him these last few weeks.”

“Last few months.”

“...”

“Maybe… do you think I should talk to Shiro? I know him better than you do. He might listen to me.”

“Actually, I’d really appreciate that. I’ve been worrying about what to do for a while now, but since I don’t know Shiro that well, I’ve always been too uncomfortable to talk to him alone.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to him when we get back from this mission.”

“Great! Thanks, Pidge. This really means a lot to me.”


	2. Welcome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY well while I knew that there was a possibility, I was not actually prepared to receive positive feedback on this story, and it's an amazing feeling, so thank you so much!  
> As I progress with the story, I should probably say some things: first off, until now, I haven't really divided the story into chapters, so some chapters may be much longer than others, so that I can end/begin chapters naturally. Thus far, I've written around 45,000 words into the story, and I'm trying to keep a lead on what I post.  
> Also, I know Allura and Shiro have been pretty hard on Lance, but I am not writing either of them as one-dimensional characters. Or, at least, I'm certainly not intending to, but I'm... kinda inexperienced. I'll definitely do my best to develop them, though.

-Next Day-

Lance woke up to a splitting headache and a knock on his door. “Hello? Who is it?”

“Shiro. Can I come in?”

Lance checked his alarm. What time was… oh. Lance had overslept by almost an hour, right through his alarm. “Yeah, definitely, come right in!” Lance said as he jumped out of his bed, immediately wincing at his headache.

The door hissed open as Shiro walked in. “Lance, we missed you at breakfast,” he said, glancing over Lance’s disheveled figure. “Were you just… sleeping?”

Lance glanced away. “I, uh, guess so. I think Haggar’s mind blast thingy exhausted me, I was feeling super tired after getting out of the healing pod yesterday. Um, sorry,” he added as an afterthought.

Shiro looked at him, as if unsure how to continue. “Alright, well, Allura and I wanted to talk to you about your… attitude.”

Lance’s spirits sank. _Fantastic._ “Oh, Shiro, don’t worry, I promise I won’t do anything to jeopardize the mission, you can count on--”

Shiro waved a hand, cutting him off. “I appreciate that, Lance, but that isn’t what I meant. Allura feels as though you… don’t take this war very seriously. And, I agree. When you goof off and joke around, it makes her feel as if you don’t respect what we’ve lost, and how important this is. Does that… make sense to you?”

“I… right. Yeah, makes perfect sense, Shiro. I’ll… do better.”

Shiro smiled. “Okay, good to hear. Thanks, Lance. We’ll meet on the bridge in around four hours, so you’re free to do what you want until then.” With that, Shiro walked out, leaving Lance alone in the darkness, headache pounding.

* * *

 

As soon as he was out of Lance’s room, Shiro let out a breath and covered his eyes with his hand. That had been an uncomfortable conversation. With Pidge and Keith it was easy; Pidge had the tendency to hyperfocus and work too hard, to the exclusion of her basic needs, and Shiro had known Keith for years, and was one of the few people he would listen to. Although Shiro had a very simplistic understanding of Hunk, the gentle Hawaiian didn’t cause any trouble, and so the two didn’t interact much outside of missions. Lance, on the other hand… he sighed.

Truth be told, Shiro liked the normally energetic Cuban boy. But… war wasn’t a place for entertainment. It certainly bothered Allura more than Shiro, but he understood where the princess was coming from. Still… Shiro knew very little about Lance, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was handling this the wrong way.

Perhaps he was just overthinking things. As he walked up to the bridge, his thoughts turned to the mission at hand, and the problem of the lanky, lighthearted Cuban boy was forgotten.

* * *

 

Lance sat at the edge of the pool, kicking his feet in the water. He didn’t feel much like spending time with the rest of his team right now, and whenever he felt like that he usually ended up here. Ever since the broken elevator incident, Keith had stayed predictably away from the pool. And since Lance and Keith were the only ones (other than maybe Allura and Coran) who knew about it, Lance could rely on being alone for a while.

An icy feeling gathered in his mind as he recounted Shiro’s conversation, over and over again. _It makes her feel as if you don’t respect what we’ve lost…_ Even in Lance’s joking and flirting, he had never meant to disrespect Allura. Actually, he had an enormous amount of respect for her. She was barely older than they were, discounting the cryosleep, and yet she had already gone through so much. Despite losing her entire planet, her people, and everyone save Coran that she had ever known, she still persevered through an intergalactic war, the very fate of the universe on her shoulders. In truth, Lance’s flirting and joking had been an attempt to lighten her load. Clearly, he had failed. _Again,_ Lance thought.

Then he shook his head. This wasn’t a helpful train of thought. He would just have to hunker down and start trying to live up to their expectations. He stood up and dove into the pool, swimming with eyes open. The water seemed somehow colder today than usual, and he let the cold soak into him, sharpening, yet covering his senses as he cut through the water with practiced agility.

* * *

 

Hours later, Lance walked onto the bridge, where Hunk, Pidge, and Keith were waiting. “So, anyone know where Shiro, Allura and Coran are?” Lance asked as he flopped into his chair. The rest of the paladins shook their heads just as the door slid open.

“Excellent, you’re all ready to go!” said Allura, as she, Shiro, and Coran walked in. “The Meriades will be expecting us in barely two vargas. Now, let’s go over the schedule.

“The Meriades will welcome us with a dinner party. We will all be expected to wear formal Merian attire, which they will provide for us. There will be food, music and dancing, for us to acquaint ourselves with the members of the court. Afterwards, we will retire to our room for rest. In the morning, after breakfast, we will have free time to explore the palace and its grounds. Lunch will kick off our negotiations, which will probably last until a second dinner party. The next morning we are invited to spectate a traditional fighting tournament. At lunch, they will announce their decision.” Allura looked around the room. “Any questions?”

“How will we get there?” Pidge asked. “Are we all taking a transport pod from the castle, or one lion, or all the lions, or what?”

“We will each take our lion. I will ride with Shiro, and Coran will remain at the castle, in orbit.” Pidge nodded. “Alright then! Let us head down to the hangar.”

* * *

 

The trip to planet Merian was swift and uneventful. As soon as the castle had warped into orbit, the paladins exited the hangars. As Merian floated into view, Lance gasped. The planet was smaller than some, but it was covered in green forests and blue oceans. He opened comms. “Hey, Allura?”

“Yes, Lance?”

“Is the atmosphere on Merian breathable?”

“I believe Merian’s atmosphere closely mimics Earth’s and Altea’s, so yes, it is.”

Lance smiled. “Okay, thanks. That’s all I wanted to know.” The rest of the journey passed in silence, until they touched down at the landing zone, just outside of the palace.

As he walked out of Blue onto the grass, Lance couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of the Merian castle. Although it looked a lot like a medieval European castle back on Earth, the stonework seemed to have been built around, and into, a group of towering trees that shot up far higher than the surrounding forests, the highest of which obviously served as watchtowers. Taking his helmet off, he breathed in the fresh air and smiled widely. This place was beautiful.

“Hey, Lance!” Lance turned at the sound of Hunk, who was walking towards him, helmet under his arm. “This place is amazing, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, no kidding. Have you seen how those tallest trees double as watchtowers?”

Hunk squinted up at them. “Oh, wow! That’s so cool! I wonder how they managed to build into the trees.”

Lance shrugged. “Maybe we’ll find out while we’re here.”

“There were also energy disturbances as we flew in, which would suggest some sort of shield around the palace. That would be interesting to study.”

Lance grinned. “You think they’d be willing to teach us about their greatest military assets before they’ve decided to join us?”

Hunk laughed. “Maybe not. Still, a guy can dream.”

Lance nudged him as a relatively small, thin man approached them from the direction of the castle.

“Hail, paladins and princess of Voltron!” As he drew closer, Lance observed him more closely. Although taller than Pidge, he was shorter than the rest of them. He was dressed in light and dark blues that matched his eyes. In fact, he was mostly human-looking, except for his light blue… was that hair? Lance looked carefully. No… it seemed to be long strands of feathers in place of his hair, about the length of Keith’s. “I am Terrin, advisor to Lord Kyrion. We are glad to welcome you to the Merian palace.”

“And we are glad to be here,” replied Allura.

“Lord Kyrion eagerly awaits your presence, but he has sent me to show you to your rooms, where you will find your clothes for the occasion tonight. Your formal welcome will begin in one varga.” Terrin turned. “Now, if you’ll follow me…”

While many of the palaces Voltron visited were only for official political purposes, this was clearly more practical in its use. Meriades with all different skin tones, statures, positions, and most noticeably, wildly variant head-feather colors traversed the halls. Some carried food, some weaponry, others paper, and Lance even saw a disgruntled purple-feathered Meriad carrying a large potted plant. As they walked the halls, Terrin explained to them certain parts of Merian history and culture. “Although we do have technology that is up to par with most other current civilizations (save the galra, of course), Merian’s development is due in large part to quintessence manipulation. As you can see, this castle has been built into the trees themselves; this was the work of architects from many ages past. Although the trees grow and change, the castle grows and fits smoothly with them. It is one of the last remaining works of its kind.”

“So, do your species still manipulate quintessence?” Pidge asked.

“Over time, the gift was lost to us. There are a few rare individuals with the ability to tune and manipulate quintessence, but not as many as there were, and none so talented as our predecessors.” Terrin gestured them past a group of heavily armed Meriades, and continued up a stairway. “Nowadays, we rely much more heavily on harder sciences, as does the rest of the universe.” Pidge nodded, her eyebrows furled in thought. Terrin lead them into a hallway with eight doors, four on either side. “The four on the left and the two closest on the right will be your quarters. The two farthest down to the right are already occupied.” He held up a small, gold bell and rung it loudly. Six Meriad servants appeared from the other end of the hall and approached him. “I will now return to Lord Kyrion. Servants, could you please show the paladins and the princess their rooms?”

A tall, lanky Meriad servant with short-trimmed gold feathers and equally golden eyes approached Lance tensely. “Welcome, my lord. I am to serve you while you stay. Your room is the farthest down the hall,” he gestured. “If you’d follow me…”

His room was beautiful. There was a private bathroom off to one side, and his bed was larger than Lance could sleep in comfortably. Windows spanned one wall, and there was a door to a private balcony that overlooked the surrounding city. Given the architecture of the palace, he guessed that his room was the only one that had it. Lance wasn’t sure why they hadn’t given this room to Allura, but as he looked around, he couldn’t be too upset.

The servant’s voice snapped him out of his thought. “Is everything to your satisfaction, my lord?” He was studiously avoiding meeting Lance’s eyes, as if not sure what to expect. Lance guessed he was new.

“Yes, this is beautiful, thank you! And you can just call me Lance,” Lance said comfortably, pretending not to notice when the servant looked at him curiously.

“Oh. Of course, Lance. Will you… be needing anything else?”

“I don’t think--” Lance started off, then paused as an idea struck him. “Actually… we’re supposed to attend dinner party in less than a varga. Could you maybe… help me out with fashion? I would have no idea what to wear.” Actually, Lance was usually pretty good with alien fashion, but it couldn’t hurt to make a new friend.

“Oh!” the servant met his eyes for the first time. “Yeah, I can help out! I’m pretty good at this sort of thing.”

“Great, thanks!” Lance said, smiling warmly.

As they tried out and discarded various articles of clothing, they chatted comfortably about various things. The servant’s name was Derin, and as Lance had guessed, he had just recently gotten a seasonal serving job at the palace. Lance enjoyed listening to Derin talk about his life on Merian, and Derin liked hearing about the various planets Lance had visited. Eventually, the conversation turned to the galra.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking,” Lance said, “What do Merian’s people think about the galra as opposed to the coalition?” Derin looked away. “Don’t worry, you can say whatever you want. I won’t judge,” Lance said, smiling.

“Well…” Derin started. “We all hate the galra. But if we go directly against them… they could massacre us.” He looked directly into Lance’s eyes. “For me, I would take that chance. I would fight them even if it means my death. But… I have a little sister and brother back in the city, and I… don’t know if I could risk that for them.”

Lance nodded. “I have several younger siblings, too. I’m not sure I’d be able to make that choice, either.”

Derin looked surprised. “But… you’ve given everything to fight the galra.”

Lance laughed. “To be honest, it was more chance than anything. The blue lion had been hidden on my home planet, and I and some other humans just so happened to find it. It flew us through a wormhole to the rest of them.” He looked down. “I’m not sure if I could go home if I wanted to.”

“I’m sorry. I… wasn’t aware of that. I hope you see your family again.”

“So do I,” Lance said, smiling through the ice in his stomach. “How about you? You said you had a sister and brother. What are they like?” Derin smiled as he recounted various tales about his family back in the city.

Once Lance and Derin were finished choosing an outfit, Lance admired their handiwork in a large mirror. Although initially they’d gone with stereotypical blue, they had later decided that stereotypes inhibited artistry, and had gotten more creative. Now, Lance stood in dark blues and black, accented by gold. Derin stepped back. “Well, I think it looks amazing.”

Lance couldn’t help but agree. The outfit showed off a fair amount of skin, but as long as Derin knew it wasn’t indecent, Lance was fine with it. “Wow, this is stunning. Thanks for all the help!”

“My pleasure.” Derin said, grinning. “Can’t let you go to a dinner party without looking your absolute best.”

Lance laughed. “Certainly not.” Just as he was finished speaking, there came a knock on his door. “Hello?”

“Lance, are you ready for dinner?” Allura’s voice was muffled through the door.

“Yep, I’ll be out in a few ticks!” Lance replied. He looked at Derin one last time. “Any last minute tips?”

“I don’t think so. Just… enjoy yourself, I guess?”

Lance grinned. “Okay, I will do that. Thanks again for all your help!” Derin waved as Lance joined Allura and the rest of the paladins outside. He pretended not to notice as she looked over his outfit.

“Are you certain that outfit is appropriate?

“My servant helped me choose it. I think it will be fine.”

“Hm. I hope so.”

As they walked to the ballroom, Hunk slowed his pace to walk beside Lance. “Hey, man! You look great!”

“Thanks, bro. Derin helped me pick it out.” At Hunk’s look of confusion, Lance clarified. “The servant that was assigned to me.” They walked a while in silence for a while. “So, you ready to experience the finest Meriad cooking in the land?”

Hunk smiled widely. “Can’t wait. Hopefully, they’ll let me stock up on some more foods and spices for the castle meals.”

“That would be fantastic. You still have a lot from the last planet we visited, right?”

“Well, the grain somehow acidified, but the rest of it is still good.”

“How does grain even _do_ that?”

“Well, as it happens the grain shell was made out of--” Lance tried to follow the chemical explanation that followed as best he could, but hard sciences were never his forte. Soon enough, they found themselves in front of the open doors to the ballroom. Allura turned around to face them.

“Alright, Paladins, I expect you all to be on your best behavior.” She may have been subtle about it, but Lance caught her eyes rest on him longer than necessary. “And, of course, enjoy yourselves. But remember your purpose here.”

As they entered the ballroom, a voice rang out. “The paladins of Voltron, and Princess Allura of Altea!” The noise lulled for a few second after the announcement, but the Meriades soon continued their talk and dance, music playing in the background.

The paladins soon dispersed. Allura and Shiro were almost immediately whisked into conversation, and an obviously uncomfortable Keith followed Shiro. Hunk and Pidge soon found themselves talking technology with some of the higher-ups in research, or so Lance assume from listening in.

So, with everyone else occupied, Lance did what he did best; watched. Lord Kyrion, or so he assumed from the silver feathers and impressively regal attire, was in conversation with Allura and Shiro. Although they were all smiling, Lance knew that in politics, a smile didn’t mean much. The only other Meriad with silver feathers was a tall, attractive, athletic male sitting at a table. He was surrounded by beautiful Meriad women, who all seemed to be laughing and smiling as he spoke. Lance assumed he was a prince.

Lance continued looking around the room. Although there were various important nobles and leaders that he noted, the only person that caught his attention was a black-feathered women sitting alone at her table, occasionally drinking gracefully from a glass filled with the Meriad equivalent to wine. She was clearly older, but she sat with elegance and poise as she looked around the room. Lance wasn’t sure whether her solitude was due to her own effort, or the effort of the rest of the partygoers to avoid her. As he stared, her eyes turned to look at him. They both watched each other for a few seconds, before her mouth curved into a small smile, and she turned away and continued observing the room.

Lance turned to look back at Allura and Shiro. They were still conversing with Lord Kyrion, who was laughing. Well… hopefully that was a good sign.

A deep, but friendly voice interrupted his guessing. “Paladin of Blue! You look lovely tonight.”

Lance turned to face the handsome, silver-feathered man from the table, who had apparently gotten up while he was watching Allura and Shiro. Lance grinned. “Please, you can call me Lance. And might I have the honor of knowing your name?”

The man grinned back, silver eyes gleaming. “Why, how could I refuse? Kyrick, son of Kyrion, at your service.” Was this flirting territory?

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Kyrick. To what do I owe this conversation?”

“Must I have a reason to talk with someone such as yourself?” Oh, this was _definitely_ flirting territory.

Lance was about to respond in kind, but Allura’s words echoed in his mind. _If you cannot control yourself, you will remain aboard the castle._ “Well, unfortunately, yes.” He lowered his voice and leaned towards Kyrick. “Allura has me under strict orders to, in her words, ‘take things seriously.’”

Kyrick tilted his head suggestively. “Oh, I assure you, I am _very_ serious.” They both laughed. “That said, I understand. Responsibility is often emphasized over all else.”

“Hmm…” Lance said, fake-musing over something else to talk about. “So… tell me, what would such a serious person such as yourself think about the coalition?”

Instead of lightening the conversation as Lance had intended, the prince’s brow knitted together, and his silvery eyes turned towards the floor. “Truth be told, I… have been against joining the coalition.”

Lance tilted his head. “Interesting. Might I have your reason?”

Kyrick hesitated, as if not wanting to offend Lance. “As the crown prince, I have been sent to numerous political missions to other civilizations, and the Galra Empire. I have seen the empire’s power firsthand. I have seen other planets try to fight.” His eyes grew dark. “And I have seen the atrocities the galra have commited in response.

“I do believe the galra are evil,” he continued. “I would never side with them if I didn’t have a choice. But… given what I have seen of galra military might and technology, compared to the rest… I have little hope, even if we all banded together, that we could defeat them. In willingly submitting to them, we would ensure many, many generations of continued peace and prosperity, as opposed to a war that drains our planet of resources, ended by our eradication.

Lance nodded. “That makes sense. You’ve clearly thought this out.”

Kyrick smiled as he swept a muscular arm through his feathers. “Well, thank you.” He glanced back at the group of girls, who were all still sitting at the table, and were all glaring daggers at Lance. “I had best get back to my entourage. But it has been nice talking to you.”

“Hopefully we’ll be able to talk more in the future?” Lance asked, grinning.

Kyrick laughed. “I would enjoy that.” As he said it, he put his hand on Lance’s shoulder.

Suddenly, Lance was hit with a ominous, almost unbearable feeling of _wrongness._ A deep, irrational need to _get away, get out--_ Forcing himself in control, Lance continued smiling through the desperate urge to _run as far and as fast as possible_ \-- and suddenly, the hand was gone, and everything was normal again as Kyrick returned to his table of Meriades.

_What the hell was--!?_ Lance reached out to Blue for subconscious comfort, but was met with emptiness. Right; she was still out in the landing zone, too far away from the palace to contact. Lance looked around the ballroom again, attempting to restore some sense of normalcy to the night. Shiro and Allura-- still fine. Keith-- behind Shiro. Hunk and Pidge-- alone by the refreshment table. Okay. _It’s alright… everyone’s fine._ Lance shook his head.

He walked over to Hunk and Pidge, forcing down his uneasiness. “Hey, Hunk, Pidge. How’s the food?”

“Bland.” said Pidge, right as Hunk said “Very subtle, but fresh.”

“I think that’s just the style of this planet, though. The ingredients have a lot of potential,” Hunk continued. Pidge made a face.

Then she grinned evilly. “You looked like you were having a good time,” she said, leaning towards Lance and raising her eyebrows suggestively.

Lance blushed, but was still to frazzled to make jokes. “Yeah, he seemed really nice. Hopefully we’ll get to talk again. How did your tech talk go?”

Pidge's interest perked almost tangibly. “Well, Hunk inquired about the shield his scanner picked up, and apparently, this castle functions as living organism, in that it runs off of its own quintessence! The grove and the castle are the same thing, and the grove is symbiotically bonded together as one organism. Some organisms apparently have the ability to generate automatic quintessence shields, and that was what Hunk was scanning. Isn’t that cool!?”

Lance frowned. “That must have been why I wasn’t able to snipe Haggar. She’s been alive long enough, she must have done something to let her generate a passive shield. That’d be pretty cool if she weren’t, you know, the embodiment of evil.”

“The lions have their own quintessence,” Hunk interjected. “Maybe eventually we could do the same, with their quintessence.”

Pidge stood there, lost in ideas. “Maybe we’d even be able to figure out how to wield their quintessence like Haggar.”

“Well, Allura has looked into it, since she can also use quintessence,” Lance said. “Other than the galra druids themselves, no one else seems to be able to use quintessence. This might be the only free planet we’ve visited that even has any active users anymore.”

Hunk frowned. “Makes you wonder how hard the Galra Empire has tried to eradicate quintessence abilities, if at all.”

Lance nodded. “It makes sense. Gives the empire a pretty solid advantage, having an entire field of knowledge that no one else even has access to.”

“I wonder if the castle ship’s library would have any books on quintessence manipulation?” Pidge mused. “If so, they might be the last of their kind.”

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by Allura. “Hello, Pidge and Hunk. If you two wouldn’t mind, Shiro and I would like to talk with you for a few minutes.”

Hunk raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Lance. “Just us? Why?”

“There are certain scientific topics we believe would be very interesting to you both,” Allura said. “I’m sure you’ll only be gone a couple of minutes.” As the three of them headed towards Shiro and Lord Kyrion, Pidge looked back towards him, putting her hand around her throat and gagging comically.

Lance stood there in silence as the three walked away. It was blatantly obvious that Allura was showing off Pidge and Hunk to Lord Kyrion. Clearly, he wasn’t even worth presenting. He would be angry and offended, if he weren’t so hurt. Lance looked down at the ground and clenched his jaw, as if to push away the ice curling in his gut. He knew what Allura thought of him; so why did it still sting?

Lance looked towards the doors out to a balcony. He needed some room. And some quiet. And some darkness. He walked out into the cool night air and took a deep breath past the tightness in his throat, then gave a hollow laugh. “Well, this sucks.” He looked up at the stars. Despite the completely different formations, the beauty of stars never failed to take his mind off… well, whatever shit he needed to take his mind off of at any given moment. Lance let his mind wander as he leaned on the guardrail, wondering what he’d done so wrong.

He stayed like that for a while, staring at the stars and letting the cold air flow past, until a male voice interrupted his reverie.

“Paladin of Blue.” Lance’s eyes widened involuntarily as he turned and found himself face to face with Lord Kyrion himself. “Why outside, and alone, at such an event?”

“Oh! Um.” Lance stammered, caught off guard. “Sometimes I just find it easier to be alone. I’m sorry if I have offended you. Tonight has been wonderful, but…”

Kyrion held up his hand. “Do not worry, paladin. I am certainly not offended.” He leaned on the guardrail. “In fact, I was hoping for a conversation. Do you mind humoring me?”

Lance shook his head mutely for a second, then found his voice. “Certainly not, my lord. If… you don’t mind me asking, though, wouldn’t you rather talk to Shiro and Allura?”

“I do not mind at all. I told them I was feeling tired. When I say that I am tired, parties I host tend to disperse rather quickly.”

Lance looked back inside. Sure enough, the only people remaining in the ballroom were servants, cleaning up after the party. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but Kyrion answered it before Lance could speak.

“Your fellow paladins have retired to their quarters.” Kyrion glanced at Lance. “I believe,” he added as an afterthought, “that they were under the impression you had already left.”

Lance looked down as Kyrion continued. “In truth, I would perhaps have continued talking to your leaders, but I tired of their rather, if you’ll forgive me for saying it, obvious agenda.” The tall, regal Meriad smiled.

Lance smiled in return. “Shiro and Allura can be very… driven, when it comes to their goals.”

“Indeed. When I saw you out here, I thought I might stay awhile, and talk to the one paladin that had eluded me tonight.”

“Sorry about that. It… wasn’t intentional.”

“I suspected as much,” Kyrion looked at him for a second, then smiled. “I noticed you made acquaintance with my son. You both looked to be enjoying yourselves.”

Lance blushed. “Uhm, yes, my lord. Er, not that I would--”

Kyrion held up his hand again and laughed. “Relax, paladin. If you are anything like him, and I suspect you are, flirting and joking is something you both enjoy. I would certainly not begrudge you some joy in an otherwise all-too-serious world.”

Kyrion stared out across the land, and his eyes took on a steely glint. “An all-too-serious world. Tell me, Lance, what would you do if you were in my position?”

Lance stood in silence for a few seconds, gathering his thoughts. He hadn’t expected to be asked for his opinion. “Well… for me, it would depend on how much of a chance I think we have against the Galra Empire. If we have a good shot at finally beating them, of course I’d take it. If not… well, I would ensure that my people remain as safe as possible for as long as possible.” Lance paused. “Of course, I’m sure you’ve already thought this through.”

“It is always good to ask others to weigh in.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” They sat in silence for a while before Lance spoke again. “Your son makes a pretty good case against joining the coalition.”

“He does.” Lance felt a hopeless, heavy feeling settle in the air. “That has not always been the case.”

“It sounds like there’s a sad story there,” Lance said hesitantly. “I… don’t mean to pry, but I’ll listen, if you want.”

Kyrion looked at him, a sad smile on his face. “It is the saddest of stories, but you are kind to listen, paladin. You see, once, the boy had a mother.” Lance’s heart sank as he realized how this was going to end. “Lyra was beautiful, witty, carefree, charming, intelligent, and so much more. Although it ached when she left, it wasn’t in her nature to stay in one place. So, she would go on diplomatic missions. Whether it was to negotiate cease-fires, give aid in planetary crises, or bargain simple trade dealings, she loved being out among the stars. When Kyrick was born, she would often take him with her.

“We were very close as a family, but Kyrick always took more after Lyra than me. The two were inseparable.” Kyrion took a deep breath. “Until she died. The mission was only meant to be a refugee deal, to help those who had fled from war. Lyra… hated the galra. They stood against everything she was, and she would spite them in any way she could. She was only unlucky once, but that was all it took. She was visiting a hospital, helping those she could. When the bombs dropped… she was caught in the blast.” There was a long, sorrowful pause. “And Kyrick, at only thirteen phoebs old, watched her die.”

Lance listened in shocked silence, pain clawing through his gut. “I’m so sorry.”

“I have relayed the tale enough that it holds little pain for me now. Ironically, it is the happy memories that cut the sharpest, for those are lost forever.” Kyrion said. “Kyrick took a long time to recover. He has come face-to-face with the evil of the empire, and then returned to look at it again, and again, and again, for the sake of his people. Is it any wonder he believes as he does?”

Lance could do nothing but shake his head as Kyrion turned and walked towards the door to the balcony. “A ruler’s most important trait is his logic. And there is logic in the arguments my son makes. However… sometimes I wonder if the universe needs something more than logic right now.”

Before Kyrion walked back into the palace, he paused and turned back towards Lance. “Well, thank you for listening to the musings of an old man. Regardless of what comes to pass, I wish you the best, Paladin of Blue.”

“I… wish you the same,” Lance replied quietly.

And Lance was left alone on the balcony, with only the stars, the night air, and his racing mind to keep him company.


	3. Awakened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright not many things to say here! First off, thank you so much for the comments and kudos, it warms my heart.   
> Second, y'all may have noticed that the updates are coming pretty quickly. That is not because I am a fast writer. Actually, it's because I have no self-control! However, in total I have 45,000 words written so far, so it'll be a while before the updates slow down, I think.  
> Oh, right. I do have a tumblr. It has literally nothing on it except updates on this story. That is... probably not going to change anytime soon. If you want, follow me, anunfortunatesituation. Again, I probably won't post anything except updates. Might change. Might not. (in case it isn't obvious, I am painfully new to all this)  
> Regardless, I hope you enjoy!

-Next Day-

Lance woke up to sunlight streaming through the balcony window in his room. He yawned, and rolled out of bed to start his morning routine. Derin (or so Lance assumed) had left some basic skincare products (again, he assumed) by the bath. After a luxuriously long and relaxing bath, Lance got dressed and headed to breakfast.

The atmosphere in the dining hall was very casual; there was no political purpose to it, unlike the dinner party last night. The paladins and Allura were all seated at one table when Lance walked in, so he headed over. The food was already prepared, and had been placed at the center of their table. Lance, who had eaten very little last night, promptly dug in.

“Hungry much?” Keith asked, eyeing his plate.

“Amazhing,” Lance replied through a mouthful of food. “Firsht time ah’ve sheen you all day and you can oney critishishe me.”

“Well it’s not my fault the first thing you draw attention to is--” Keith stopped talking as Lance raised his hand commandingly for silence.

“You know what?” Lance said after swallowing. “Let’s play the ‘interact kindly and sociably with your fellow paladins’ game.”

Pidge snickered as Keith looked at him, obviously off-guard. “The… what?”

“Here’s how it works. You say a nice compliment to Pidge, Pidge says one to Shiro, Shiro says one to Hunk, he says one to me, and then I say one to you.”

“I… why would I want to--” Keith started, but Pidge interrupted him.

“Keith, this is the ‘interact kindly and sociably with your fellow paladins’ game. You have to do it; no choice.”

Keith sputtered indignantly as Hunk interjected. “It’s true. That’s just how the game works.”

At this point, Lance had the attention of everyone at the table. “Alright, Keith, fire away.”

“I-- um--,” Keith stammered before he took a breath. “Okay… Pidge… you… are smart.”

Pidge and Lance burst into laughter. “Wow, Keith--” said Lance, “that was-- quite the compliment.” Keith had turned bright red.

Lance continued. “Well, moving on from that… Pidge, your turn.”

“Okay! Um… Shiro… you’re really great at keeping us coordinated and working together in battle!”

Shiro smiled. “Oh… well, thank you very much, Pidge. My turn, now? Alright, well… Hunk, I love how you keep this team together through your constant kindness and friendly demeanor.”

“Aw, thanks, man!” Hunk gushed. “Okay, my turn! Lance, you’re the best best friend anyone could ever ask for!” He leaned over and pulled Lance into a tight hug. Lance couldn’t see, but there were several “aw”s from around the table.

“Alright! Now, my turn!” Everyone stared at him. His time had come. “Keith, I just want you to know; your mullet makes me want to vomit _slightly_ less than normal.” The entire table, save Allura, who was scowling, and Keith, who leaned over and punched him, burst out laughing.  Lance raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright I was joking!”

Keith finally stopped punching his arm and returned to his seat, arms crossed tightly, even though he was fighting hard not to smile. “What I meant to say,” Lance continued, “was that even though you can have a hard time connecting with people, you still make the effort to get to know us. Even by participating in a silly game I just made up, you really are a good friend to all of us, Keith, and we love you for it.” Another chorus of “aw”s went around the table as Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro all got up to hug Keith, who had buried his bright red face in his hands.

The conversation continued warmly from there as breakfast went on. Just when Lance was starting to feel full, he heard a voice say his name. “Paladin Lance?”

Lance turned in his chair to see Derin standing next to the table, holding a letter. “Oh, hey Derin. What’s up?”

Derin shifted awkwardly as the attention of an entire table of paladins, and Allura, shifted towards him. “Um, I, have, a letter for you.” Lance took the letter and began to open it, but Derin stopped him. “The, er, sender of the letter respectfully requests that you read it in private.”

“Oh,” Lance said. “Well, okay. Thanks for the info.” He waved as Derin walked hurriedly away. He put the letter into his pocket, and looked around at his team, who were all looking at him with varying expressions.

Hunk spoke first. “Be careful when you open it. It could contain some sort of poison.”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to wear the paladin gloves.”

Pidge stared at Lance with obvious jealousy. “Why does _Lance_ get the fancy secret letter? _I_ want a fancy secret letter.”

Lance laughed; Pidge was so naturally curious, of course this would be driving her crazy. “Don’t worry, Pidge, it’s probably some steamy love letter meant for my eyes only,” Lance said as he grinned. “Such an innocent soul as yourself is far too young to be looking at such things.”

Pidge made an incomprehensible sound of rage as Allura spoke next. “Lance…” she said warningly. “Take this seriously. Although I don’t know why someone would send you specifically a letter, and not one of the leaders of the team, it could be important to the mission. I expect you to treat it as such.”

Lance’s grin soured. “Of course, Princess.” He stood up. “Well, I’m pretty full, and pretty curious as to my random mystery-letter, so I’m going to head to my room, then probably out and about for a while. Adios!” Hunk, Pidge, and Keith waved as he walked out of the dining hall.

* * *

 

Back in his room, Lance sat on his bed, holding the impressively ornate letter with his paladin gloves. It was obviously high quality, and was sealed with black wax in a seal that Lance, of course, didn’t recognize. On the other side was written his name, which Lance was surprised to find was in English. After fumbling the letter open with his gloved hands (no poison, thankfully), he took out the relatively short note inside.

_Paladin of Blue,_

_Welcome to Merian. I hope your stay thus far has been most enjoyable. I will be brief; I believe we both have information that could benefit the other. I would appreciate your company to discuss this further. If you are interested, meet me at the wind shrine on the palace grounds, two vargas after breakfast._

_Sincerely,_

The signature was in alien handwriting that Lance couldn’t read. Scenarios ran through Lance’s head as he stared the letter. Could the person be trying to assassinate him? Was Lance going to be taken hostage? Lance doubted it. The wax seal indicated that the letter had been sent by someone of decent reputation. Information that could benefit the other… Lance wasn’t sure what information he could possibly have that would be important to the other person, but there was no way to tell until they met.

As Lance puzzled over things, Derin walked in the door. “Did you read the letter?”

“Hey, Derin. Yep, just finished. I’m a little confused, though.”

Derin walked over and sat down beside him. “What’s the trouble?”

“Most of the letter is in English, a language from my homeworld, but I can’t read the signature. Could you tell me who this is from?”

“Oh, right. Lady Alrys is the one who told me to give it to you.” Derin bent over to read the signature. “Yep, signed by Lady Alrys.”

“Thanks. Who… is Lady Alrys?” Lance asked.

“She’s…” Derin paused and furrowed his brows. “Well, no one is totally certain, but everyone knows Lord Kyrion holds her opinion in high regard. My best guess is she deals with information. She interviews all the new staff at the palace before they’re allowed to work here,” he added as an afterthought.

“Huh. She wants me to meet her at the wind shrine on the palace grounds, but I don’t know where that is.”

“Oh, it’s pretty far out there. If you go out onto the balcony, can you see the hill out to the left?” Lance nodded. “On the other side of the hill is a cliff. The wind shrine is at the very top. It’s so far from the palace, not many people visit it. Great place for a private conversation.” Derin glanced at Lance. “I assume that’s why she’d meet you there.”

“Okay, thanks for all the info.”

They chatted for a little while longer before Derin was called back to his duties around the palace, leaving Lance alone in his room. He looked out at the giant hill. It looked pretty far away. _I might need all the time I can get if I want to be there on time_ , Lance thought to himself.

After putting on some hopefully-hiking-clothes, Lance opened the door to his room, and stopped short as he saw Allura, standing against the wall and looking hostile.

“Lance. Where are you going?”

“Allura,” Lance mimicked. “Why do you assume I’m going somewhere?”

“What was in the letter?”

“I… what? Why? Derin told us that the sender wanted it to remain private.”

“Lance, this is no time for your antics. I will ask again. What was in the letter?”

Lance stared at her. “Allura, you’re a diplomat, born and raised. A palace official wants to meet with me, and I don’t want to go into the meeting having done the one thing they told me not to do.”

“Why would they need to know?”

“Do you really think I can act that well?” Actually, Lance was certain he could act that well, but really, he wasn’t feeling too friendly towards Allura right now.

Allura huffed. “Fine. I expect you to be on your best behavior.”

_Doesn’t that seem to be the phrase of the week,_ Lance thought bitterly as he said, “Of course, Allura.”

Without another word, she turned and walked down the hall, and turned into a room.

* * *

 

As Allura walked away, anxiety twisted in her gut. What was going on? Why did someone want to meet with Lance? Was Lance in danger? Was someone trying to take advantage of him, to get to Voltron? Maybe _…_ she pushed the dark thoughts out of her head. Of everyone, why did it have to be Lance? What could anyone possibly want from him?

She stood outside of Shiro’s room, pausing before entering, closing the door behind her. He was sitting at a small table, reading from an alien tablet. As the door shut, he looked up.

“Oh, hello Allura. What’s…” He paused and his brow furrowed as he noticed the familiar look on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“I…” Allura took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, I’m just so worried. About so many things.”

“Hey, sit down.” Shiro set his tablet down and gestured to a chair at the other end of the small table. “Is this about the letter?”

Allura sat down. “Yes. I simply-- I don’t understand-- why would they send a letter to Lance, specifically? Is he being targeted? Is he in danger? What if--”

Shiro cut her off. “Hey, it’s alright,” he said in a calming voice. “Lance… wouldn’t go anywhere he thought wasn’t safe. He’s learned a lot from… past experiences.”

Allura looked at the floor. That was true. “Lance… in the hall, he told me someone wanted to meet with him.”

Shiro frowned. “That is strange. Who sent the letter?”

“He… wouldn’t tell me. The sender wanted it kept private. Which seems even more suspicious.”

“Well, maybe the person who sent it is fairly well-known. If they weren’t, I doubt Lance would have accepted the meeting.”

“Well, yes. Of course, the person probably didn’t want the rest of the palace hearing about it. It probably had nothing to do with keeping it from us. But… even so… Lance…” Allura trailed off.

“Are you worried he’ll strain our relationship with the person he’s meeting?”

“I just… well, yes, I suppose that’s it. I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t control it, and I can’t even see what’s happening. I feel like I need to do something about it. But I can’t. It’s so…” Allura audibly swallowed. “Scary, I suppose.”

Shiro put his hand over her own, resting on the table. “I… know probably nothing I say will stop you from worrying. But, let’s imagine that it is worst case scenario. Let’s say that Lance’s actions turn this planet to the galra’s side. Even if that does happen (and I don’t think it will),  it’s just one planet, among hundreds. We’ll always lose some. Even though we wish we didn’t, even though we wonder what we could have done better, sometimes better just won’t happen. But we still have the support of so many more. Overall, we fight with the support of the entire coalition. Which, with or without this planet, is a force to be reckoned with. And, most importantly, they fight with us because we fight for justice.”

Allura felt herself slowly relax as she took a few deep breaths. “Thanks, Shiro… this war, as you know, means everything to me. I find it all too easy to hyperfocus on details that, in the end, don’t matter as much as they seem. Truthfully…” She hesitated. “It worries me, even how much I worry. Sometimes it seems like that is all I can do, anymore.”

“Well… I would be surprised if you didn’t worry. But… we’re there for you, princess. If things ever get too bad for you to handle, tell me. Or Coran. And we’ll do our best to support you.”

Allura smiled half-heartedly. “Thank you, Shiro. I may be the diplomat, but you certainly do have a way with words.”

Shiro laughed. “Not nearly as much as you, Allura.” He paused, and frowned. “How much sleep did you get last night?”

“…probably not nearly enough.”

Shiro frowned. “Maybe you’d better use this break period to catch up.”

Allura arched an eyebrow. “And I suppose I am to believe you were the model of a healthy sleep pattern last night?” Shiro looked away guiltily. “Perhaps you’d best do the same.”

Shiro grinned and held out his hand for a handshake. “Alright, it’s a deal. Instead of running ourselves ragged as usual, we use this generous…” he looked down at his tablet. “…five varga time span to have a nice, long nap.”

Allura smiled and took the handshake. “It’s a deal.” And with that, she walked out of the room, and back to her own, feeling slightly better than before.

* * *

 

_Thank goodness it’s such a nice day,_ Lance thought as he hiked up the unkept trail.  Lance had almost missed the overgrown path that split off from the main road to the palace, and had lost the track several times. He’d precariously jumped past a stream, walked over another on a log, climbed up a small rock face, and had almost tripped over roots too many times to count. To be honest, he wasn’t even sure he was on the right path. It seemed unlikely that Lady Alrys, whoever she was, was _this_ avid of a hiker. That, or the privacy of this conversation was more important that he’d thought.

Just as Lance was considering climbing a tree to see the palace for reference, the forest broke out into a large windswept field on the edge of a cliff. And close to the edge… he squinted. A figure dressed in a black dress, standing next to a rock shrine. As Lance neared the shrine, the figure turned around to face him. It was the black-feathered woman who had been sitting alone at the dinner party.

“Lady Alrys, I presume?” Lance said, over the wind.

“Indeed. I apologize for the trek I put you through, but I wished for complete privacy.” She beckoned him closer.

Lance furrowed his eyebrows. “I mean no offense, my lady, but… I had a difficult time getting here myself. Do you… do this sort of thing often?”

Alrys laughed, her feathers billowing in the wind. “Well, as it happens, I do. However, navigating forest is a skill I have a unique advantage in.”

“Oh. And, if you don’t mind me asking, what is that unique advantage?”

Alrys’s expression grew more serious. “That is what I wish to discuss with you.” She sat down on the shrine’s bench, which was facing the cliff, and gestured for him to do the same. As Lance sat, she continued. “What do you know about quintessence perception?”

“I… excuse me?”

“I should clarify. I am willing to share with you my knowledge of my quintessence workings, if you share with me what you know of quintessence perception.”

Lance stared confusedly at her. Why would she think he would know anything about quintessence? “Um, my lady, I would love to assist you, but I know nothing about quintessence, or how it works.”

Lady Alrys stared at him in surprise. “But… you are awakened. I assumed…” Her eyes narrowed, and Lance could almost hear the gears in her head turning. “Unless it happened recently…”

Awakened? “What do you mean, awakened?” An icy feeling twisted in Lance’s stomach.

Alrys looked back up at him, eyes glinting intensely. “Paladin, listen closely, for what I am about to say is of the utmost importance. I came here prepared to make a deal. I am still prepared to make a deal, but the specifics must change.”

Whatever the deal was, Lance was certainly ready to listen. “I’m listening.”

“I am in need of assistance. The palace has been compromised. There is a galra agent in the walls. I have monitored all communications in and out of the palace, digital and otherwise, and have found no relay of information. This means that the agent must be receiving orders through a quintessence device, which would be untrackable to someone of my knowledge.

“I had assumed, given your awakened quintessence, that you would be able to help me root out the agent. Clearly, I was mistaken.” She allowed herself a grim smile. “However, I believe you could still help me.”

Lance thought quickly. Helping Alrys catch a galra informant would stabilize the palace politics, and would certainly put Voltron, and the coalition, in a good light. “I don’t understand how I could help you, my lady, but I am certainly willing to try.”

Some of the stress released from Alrys’s posture. “Thank you, paladin. You do me a great service. Here is what I propose: I will teach you what I know about the basics of quintessence. In return, you help me catch the spy.” She held out her hand.

Lance took it. “I’m happy to help.”

“Excellent. Let us begin. Your quintessence is awakened. You do not know what that means?”

Lance shook his head. “I assume it means it’s active somehow?”

“Precisely.” Alrys nodded briskly. “Quintessence, put simply, is life force. All creatures have it. Sentient creatures generally, though not always, have more. It is thought that quintessence has something to do with personality, and the brain.” Alrys stared out over the cliff. “Quintessence awakenings occur in certain sentient species in one of two ways; gradually, starting very young in one’s life, or suddenly, due to a dangerous or traumatic experience. Both are exceedingly rare in any species, or entirely impossible in others.”

Her eyes snapped back to Lance. “Have you had any recent experiences that fit that description?” Lance opened his mouth to respond, but Alrys continued. “Actually, first; have you noticed any signs of quintessence control? In a blue quintessence user, it would be water related, or sudden new perceptions.”

Lance’s brain was in overdrive. Water related quintessence control? “…not that I can think of.”

“Then it must have happened within the last few days.”

Lance thought back. _Maybe…_ His mind recalled his fight of willpower with Haggar. “Could another quintessence user trigger an awakening?”

Alrys arched an eyebrow. “I have never heard of druids causing such things. I assume that is what you mean?”

“It was Haggar. She tried to mentally immobilize me, but I fought out of it because I had to warn my friends.”

Alrys’s face twisted in disgust. “The void witch herself. Such a battle of power… I have no reason to believe it _couldn’t_ do such a thing.” She looked back out over the cliffside. “Congratulations, paladin. You seem to have awakened your quintessence entirely through your own force of will. Surely no small feat.”

“I… didn’t really have a choice. If I couldn’t fight, then Haggar could have killed my friends.”

Alrys smiled wryly. “Would that I had friends so loyal.”

For lack of a response, Lance stayed silent, and Alrys continued. “Anyway. Your quintessence is now active. This means that you can use it to control what is around you, and see things you otherwise could not.”

Lance stared in shock over the cliff as the wind blew past them. “Control-- you mean--?”

“Blue quintessence users are able to control water. They are also able to see and sense quintessence to a greater degree than other types.” Alrys’s face twisted into a frown. “Which is why I believe you can help me pin down our little problem.”

Lance sat in silent shock. He had accepted so many incredible, and insane things in the world. Magical sentient space lions, two survivors of a decimated race and culture that had survived for ten thousand years, an empire of purple space furries trying to enslave the universe-- but this was-- this was terrifying.

Throughout everything, Lance had remained… well, Lance. He was the team’s kind-of-sharpshooter. He was kind of funny, and kind of annoying. He didn’t take things seriously. He joked. He flirted. But most of all, he tried his best to help his friends. He was… just a boy from Cuba.

Now… he didn’t even know what he was anymore. Despite everything, Lance knew that he had remained who he was. Lance, but with a sentient space cat. Lance, but with a sniper rifle. Lance, but on a team of soldiers. Now, it was as if a line had been cut, separating him from the rest of his life. A hand on his shoulder jolted him out of his thoughts.

“Paladin?…Lance?” Alrys was looking at him concernedly. Her eyes roamed over his face, as if scanning for something. “This… is a lot. It is something you needed to know, one way or another… But, I should have thought of that.”

Lance could do nothing but nod mutely. They sat in silence for a few minutes, as the wind whirled around them. “I’m sorry, my lady. It’s… a lot to take in.”

“That it is. Take all the time you need.”

Lance mentally shook his head. Whatever internal crisis he was going through, it could wait. Right now, there were more important things to worry about. “Okay… I'm sorry. Please, continue.”

Alrys nodded. “All creatures have a mix, generally of two or three, quintessence types, out of five.”

“Red, green, blue, yellow, and black, right?”

“Indeed. All five types have a primary attribute, and a secondary attribute. Primary attributes are elements each type can control: red is fire, green is life, blue is water, yellow is earth, and black is air.”

“What about people with multiple quintessence types?”

“They can control both elements, but to a lesser extent than pure quintessence types.”

“And the secondary attributes?”

Alrys hesitated. “Truthfully, little is known about the secondary attributes. The secondary attribute for green is heightened mental acuity. The secondary attribute for blue is the ability to sense quintessence, and see it in ways normally impossible. I know these because my quintessence is predominantly green, with slight blue. Other than that, I don’t know anything about the secondary attributes.”

Lance thought back to when he’d arrived at the shrine. “So, when you said you had a unique advantage getting here…”

“The forest helps me in ways it hinders others. That is the easiest way to describe it.”

Huh. “Okay. So, because my quintessence is solid blue, you believe I can sense out the galra agent?”

“Exactly. Of course, since you have only recently awakened, you will probably have difficulty tapping into your newfound skills. I can only wish you the best of luck in that.”

“If you don’t mind me asking… If you haven’t found any communications in or out of the castle, and don’t have any idea who the agent is, how do you know there is an agent?”

Alrys smiled. “An excellent question. You could call it, in a way, intuition. Technically, I have no damning evidence to suggest anything out of the ordinary. However, when you have lived as long as I, and have dealt in information for the entirety of that life, you start to notice when things are subtly out of place.” Her smile pinched into a thin line. “Truthfully, it bothers me immensely that I am not able to find the spy as is. I should have ample resources to do so. You are (forgive me for saying so) a last, and desperate, resort.”

Lance thought for a second before speaking again. “Is there anyone you can specifically rule out?”

Alrys thought for a second. “You do not know about the politics of the court, but there are few enough that you could probably remember the names. Lord Kyrion and Prince Kyrick, of course. As well as advisor Terrin. Count and Countess Meryna, Duke Alder, Lady Corvia, and Duchess Seris. Other than these eight, the spy could be anyone.”

“Well, I’ll do my best to, uh, quintessence-sense the spy out.”

“That is all I can ask.” Alrys stood up. “Again, I thank you for coming to meet me. Though the meeting did not go quite how I expected, I enjoyed the conversation. If you discover anything of import, leave a letter in my room. I will instruct my guards to let you in.”

“Okay, I will.” A sudden thought occured to Lance. “Wait, actually, Haggar and the druids’ spellcasting doesn’t seem to function like the quintessence types you described. Do you know how that works?”

Alrys’s face turned grim. “As little as is known about basic quintessence control, even less is known about the druid’s brand of power. None but they themselves understand it at that level.”

“Huh. Well, thank you for telling me all this. I’ll do my best to repay you.”

“I wish you the best, Paladin Lance, for both our sakes.” With that, she walked back across the field and disappeared into the forest, leaving Lance alone with the wind, the view, and his mind.

* * *

 

Shiro awoke suddenly with his heart pounding, the scuttling of beetles and other alien pests fading into his mind. The arena cells had never been the cleanest, but when he had nightmares (unfortunately, most nights) his living conditions were generally overshadowed by more… well, nightmarish ordeals.

He looked around the room. A crack of light emanated from his door. His door was cracked open. Had he not closed it after Allura left? He stood up stiffly and shut it, then checked his timepiece. Only one varga until lunch. There was probably no chance of getting anymore sleep. Shiro sighed and began to get dressed for negotiations, his nightmare forgotten.


	4. Negotiations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey people! Thank you all so much for the positive feedback, it's really encouraging! Sorry for not having posted in a while, I participate in a local musical theatre company, and we just put on Titanic! It went pretty well, and it was a lot of fun, but I haven't had time/energy to post for a while.  
> But, here you go! Hope you enjoy.

Back in his room, Lance stood in his bathroom, watching water pour into the sink. When the basin was about halfway full, he turned off the faucet. _How does this even work,_ he thought as he watched the ripples. Dipping his finger into the water, he stared at the droplets as they fell back into the sink. Focusing intensely, he willed the water to hang in the air. It did not comply. Lance’s brow furrowed, and he flicked the remaining water off his finger, and unblocked the sink. Maybe he just needed time.

A knock at his door jarred him out of his musings. “Hello?”

“It is almost time for negotiations. Are you ready?” Allura asked, her voice muffled from outside the closed door.

“Yep. Do you want me out now, or in a few minutes?”

“Now would be preferable.”

Lance threw on his Meriad sandals and walked out to meet Allura in the hall. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her mouth was pinched in a line. “How was your meeting?” she asked. She looked worried. Lance tried not to think about why.

“I think it went fairly well. Are you ready for negotiations?”

“I believe so. Of course, one can only prepare so much for things like this.” Although she smiled, Lance noted the tension in her posture.

He smiled. “Well, you’re a diplomat born and raised.”

Allura rubbed the back of her neck stiffly. “Yes. I am.” Her posture was still tense.

Lance bit his lip. It probably wasn’t wise to talk like this to Allura, but clearly something was wrong. “Allura… whatever they decide, you’ll have done the best you could. If they don’t choose the coalition, that’s on them, not you.”

Her eyes flashed angrily. “I don’t need--” she started, then abruptly paused and looked down. “…I’m sorry, Lance. I am under a great deal of stress at the moment.”

Lance stayed silent as Shiro walked out of his room towards them. “Hello, Allura, Lance. Ready for negotiations?”

Lance looked away as Allura replied, “As ready as I can be, I suppose.”

“Well, that’s all we ask.” Shiro looked around. “Are Keith, Pidge, and Hunk on their way?” As he said it, the trio walked around the corner. Hunk looked slightly out of breath, and Pidge had a streak of dirt on her face that she was trying to remove with a washcloth. Keith was standing behind them, adjusting a poorly fitted shirt at the neck.

Lance glanced nervously at Allura, but she was smiling at them. “Busy morning, I see.”

“Yeah, Keith decided to take us down a literal cliff face instead of going hiking, or playing a game, like normal people,” Pidge grumbled as she scrubbed the last of the dirt off her cheek.

“Actually, I loved it. I used to rock-climb a lot before I went to the Garrison,” Hunk said, smiling. “The coast at the bottom was very scenic, too.”

“Scenic doesn’t measure up to the suffering I endured, Hunk,” Pidge griped.

Lance gave an affronted gasp. “You went to the coast… without me!?” He looked at Keith, face twisted in mock betrayal. “Keith, how could you?!”

Keith raised his arms defensively. “Well, we looked for you, but you weren’t in your room!”

Pidge snickered. “It was quite a disappointment, let me tell you.” Keith turned bright red.

“Aww, Keef--” Lance cut off as Shiro raised his arms for silence.

“Alright folks, we’d better leave soon. Before we go into negotiation, Allura, do you have anything you want us to know?”

Allura turned to face the other paladins. “Shiro and I will be addressed for most, if not all, of the points in today’s conversations. You should not have to speak unless you are specifically called for your opinion, or for validation of something we’ve already said.” Allura took on a more serious expression. “You are all aware of these rules, but a reminder never goes amiss. Do not speak out of turn. Remain polite, even if you are directly or indirectly insulted. If you are asked a question you can’t answer, I will try to deflect it onto myself. That is about it.”

Shiro clapped his hands together. “Okay! Let’s go do this!” With that, the six of them turned and started walking towards the negotiation hall.

* * *

 

Although the food was excellent, Lance found his mind drifting during most of the negotiation session. The paladins were arranged on one side of the table, with Allura and Shiro at the center. Lord Kyrion and his panel of six advisors sat opposite. Kyrick sat at Kyrion’s left side, and Lady Alryss was to the right. While Allura and Shiro were the only ones who spoke for the paladins, Kyrion’s entire panel seemed to share questions and concerns freely. In fact, Kyrion spoke least out of all of them, except for perhaps Kyrick, who Lance suspected was just as bored as he was.

As the conversation progressed, Lance took note of the names of the rest of the advisors. As it happened, the four other than Kyrion, Kyrick, and Alrys were all names Lance recognized from his conversation at the wind shrine. The young couple to Kyrion’s left were Count and Countess Meryna, their feathers differing only slightly in their shade of green. To the right sat Duchess Seryn, a tiny, but serene-looking woman, with light pink feathers, and Duke Alder, his long, red feathers matching his flowing robes. Other than the thirteen sitting at the main table, there were many other tables full of Meriades around the rest of the room, most of whom were taking notes feverishly as the negotiations progressed.

Lance followed the conversation for the first hour, but his focus lapsed as the subject turned to militia and weapons statistics. Halfway into the second hour, servants cleared away the empty food plates and glasses, and brought in lighter refreshments. As he tuned halfway back into the conversation, a loud, painful cough drew everyone’s attention.

Kyrick was sitting with a tight grip on his glass, which he had clearly just drunk out of, coughing intensely. His eyes were wide with… Lance felt his stomach fill with ice. Was that pain?

Kyrion stood and rushed over to his son, who was now collapsed halfway in his chair, body racked with coughs. Lady Alrys stood and called, “We need a medic immediately!”

As chaos erupted around the room, a Meriad woman in a white outfit rushed into the room, accompanied by two nurses. She knelt down by Kyrick, and scanned him with a clear tablet. As she examined and treated him, Alrys reached over to the Kyrick’s glass, and sniffed it. Her eyes narrowed, and she raised it to her lips. After taking a sip, she immediately spat it out, and grabbed her own glass to wash out her mouth.

Lance snapped out of his shock, and ran around to the other side of the table, careful not to get in the way of the doctor, who was forcing a clear liquid down Kyrick’s throat. He and Alrys knelt down by Kyrick, who was laying on the floor, his body still shaking from horrible, tearing coughs.

Lance looked at Alrys. “Poison?” he whispered, over the pandemonium in the room.

Alrys looked at him, black eyes full of intensity. “Beyweed. A plant-based poison that causes intense irritation of the lungs, and fatally increases blood pressure within minutes. Combine that with the seizures and intense coughing, it is easily enough to burst blood vessels inside the body, including the brain… if untreated.”

Lance stared in horror at Kyrick, who, although he seemed to be unconscious, was starting to seize up. “Will he live?”

“Our doctors are the most skilled for several systems, and we caught it early. He will be alright, given a few vargas.”

A wave of relief swept over Lance as they both watched the doctor work. Kyrick’s seizures seemed to be slowly decreasing in intensity. “I don’t mean to belittle this attack…” Lance said slowly, “but, surely there are more reliable ways to kill a prince.”

“I agree.” Alrys’s eyes narrowed. “Beyweed is not native to Merian, but it can be easily obtained at a nearby swap moon. Convenient for someone who wouldn’t have time to collect a more local concoction.” She looked at Lance significantly as her insinuation sunk in. “Or, someone looking to create the impression that the assassin had only recently arrived on Merian.”

Lance’s blood ran cold. “You think someone is attempting to implicate us.”

Alrys nodded.

“Still… why not use a poison that would be sure to kill him?”

“An excellent question.” Suddenly, a hand on his shoulder drew him upright, away from Kyrick, and Allura crouched down to take his place. He turned angrily to see Shiro.

Before Lance could ask him what was going on, Shiro put his non-galra hand on Lance’s shoulder. “You should probably go wait with Keith, Pidge, and Hunk. Allura and I can take it from here.” He smiled in a way that Lance assumed was supposed to be reassuring.

Lance, now kicked out of the conversation, stalked back to the other side of the table, where Hunk, Keith, and Pidge stood, talking worriedly. They turned to look at him as he approached.

“Will he live?” Hunk asked, eyes resting nervously on the Prince’s empty seat.

“Yes.”

“What was the poison?” Pidge asked.

“Beyweed.” Lance parroted the description he’d received from Lady Alrys.

“Who would poison him?” Keith asked, his posture tense, as if preparing for a fight.

 _Someone looking to create the impression that the assassin had only recently arrived on Merian._ The words echoed in his mind, and Lance hesitated before responding. “Hopefully, we’ll find out.” Anger, fear, shock, and relief were only just now beginning to bleed out of his system.

They stood in silence for a few more minutes, until Kyrick, still unconscious, was carried out on a stretcher, and Lord Kyrion stood up, and raised his hands. The chaotic room quieted almost instantly.

Kyrion, face pale and drawn, but relieved, addressed the room. “My son, Prince Kyrick, has been poisoned with Beyweed.” The room erupted in whispers, but quieted again when Kyrion continued. “He will be alright, though exhausted, I am sure, within a few vargas.” More whispers. “I have ordered the servants to conduct a thorough search of the palace, to find the source of the substance. Until the search is completed, all who are in this hall will remain in this hall. I apologize for the inconvenience.” With that, Kyrion turned towards Alrys, and they started to discuss in a low, private tone. The noise in the room quickly escalated as conversations resumed.

Allura and Shiro walked back to towards Lance and the rest of the group. Both looked tense and worried.

“So, princess, anything interesting?” Lance said, trying to keep a hint of annoyance out of his voice.

“It seems we’ll be stuck here for a while.” Allura said rigidly. “No one knows who the assassin is.”

“Will this affect the negotiations in any way?” Pidge asked.

“If the poison is not traced back to a galra agent, it does not favor us,” Allura said, gritting her teeth. “It does not reflect well on Voltron that someone made a strike at the prince while all five of us were visiting.”

“Is there anything we can do to help them find the perpetrator?” Hunk asked.

“If they find the source of the beyweed, perhaps. Hopefully we will know more in a varga.” Allura turned her head to look at Kyrion. “Now, I would like a moment to talk to Shiro alone, please. Until we know more about the situation, you may only talk amongst yourselves. I do not want any of you endangering our reputation.” With that, Allura and Shiro walked away.

Lance sat in silence while Pidge, Hunk, and Keith quietly conjectured about what had happened. Allura should probably know about Voltron potentially being implicated; if they were accused of poisoning the crown prince of Merian, their chance at allying with this planet would be shot, and it would needlessly complicate coalition politics. Just as Lance made his decision, Hunk jarred him out of his thoughts.

“Hey, buddy, you okay?” His best friend’s eyes glinted with concern. “You look a little out of it.”

Lance tried to smile. “Yeah, I’m good. I just… need to tell Allura something.” As he started to walk over to where Allura and Shiro were talking, Hunk rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Are… are you sure that’s a good idea right now? Allura looks a little… stressed, right now. Maybe it would be best to wait?”

Lance looked over at Shiro and Allura, heads bowed together in a very obviously tense conversation. Maybe Hunk was right. “Yeah, maybe so.” Lance fell silent again, as Hunk, Pidge, and Keith continued to talk.

After roughly half an hour, Lance was going slightly crazy. The room was loud, but not the happy, relaxed loud that Lance missed from home. The noise was pinched, irrational, nervous noise, a hundred voices wondering what had happened, a hundred bodies waiting to leave.

Suddenly, a servant entered the room. The din slowly settled, and all eyes slowly turned towards him as he walked up to Lord Kyrion, holding a small white vial. Kyrion’s eyes darkened as the servant spoke, too quietly for the crowd to pick up. When he was done, the servant bowed, and walked away.

Kyrion stood in silence for a few seconds, his eyes narrowed. What emotion showed on his face, Lance couldn’t tell. Finally, the whole room waiting with baited breath, he spoke.

“The search of the castle has been completed, and a vial of the poison has been found. The vial was found in the Black Paladin’s quarters.”

Every head turned to face Shiro, whose eyes were wide open in shock. Allura opened her mouth to speak. “Shiro would never--”

Kyrion cut her off. “Prince Kyrick, as you all know, stands staunchly against the coalition. Given the evidence, and the motive, for such a poisoning, I must place Shiro, Black Paladin of Voltron, under arrest.” As muttering broke out, Kyrion raised a hand for silence. “However, I will treat this matter objectively. Although the Black Paladin will be held under arrest, we will continue to investigate further.”

Lance frowned. Investigate further? Kyrion continued. “The rest of the paladins, and Princess Allura, will remain free during the investigation. If Shiro is found guilty, they too will face the law. I now wish to talk to the paladins in private with my council. The rest of you are dismissed.”

As the spectators dispersed, Allura called together the paladins, eyes dark and demeanor stony. “Paladins. I will be blunt. This situation is extremely precarious. Do not speak unless I tell you to. Is that understood?” They all nodded. Once again, her eyes lingered on Lance longer than necessary.

When the last of the spectators had left, Kyrion turned to face Allura.

Allura spoke with poise of a diplomat. “What is the meaning of this, Lord Kyrion? This was supposed to be a diplomatic mission. I was not expecting one of my paladins to be framed and arrested for a crime he did not commit. I trust you will share your reasoning with us?”

“An attempt has been made on my son’s life, Princess,” Kyrion spoke slowly, and seriously. “Regardless of what you believe could or could not happen, the evidence is against you.”

Allura opened her mouth to speak, but Alrys beat her to it. “Princess, you are not alone in feeling that something is not right. That is why all six of you aren’t under arrest. However, you must admit that it looks like Shiro has attempted to kill the prince. If we let him roam free, the public backlash would be biting. The palace, and the government, would look weak.”

Allura swallowed, but had no response. Kyrion spoke again. “Shiro, given what I know of you, I do not believe you would do this. However, my opinion does not make the law. I trust you will allow yourself to be escorted to a cell?”

Shiro visibly stiffened, but nodded. “Of course, Lord Kyrion.”

“In that case, I have no more to discuss with you. I will do my best to uncover the truth about this matter.” Kyrion gestured towards two guards, who showed Shiro out of the room.

Allura nodded stiffly. “Very well. We will be going.” Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Keith turned to follow her, but stopped as Lady Alrys spoke again.

“Before you leave, I wish to speak with the Blue Paladin.”

Allura turned to look at Alrys, one eyebrow raised. “I assure you, I can answer any questions you may have. If you are not willing to speak with me, I see no reason why you should speak to the Blue Paladin.”

Ice twisted in Lance’s gut as Alrys raised an eyebrow slowly. “Mind yourself, Princess. You are the diplomat for Voltron, not the arbiter of it. I wish to speak to the Blue Paladin.”

Allura stared at Alrys for a few seconds before she regained her composure. “Of course. I simply assumed you would wish to speak to someone with more diplomatic training. I apologize for offending you.”

“It is not me you offend, Princess,” Alrys stated, waving a hand. “Thank you for your time.”

Before Allura left, she leaned close to Lance, tension (and…fear?) in her eyes. “Please be careful,” she whispered before leaving the room, Keith, Hunk, and Pidge close behind her.

Alrys watched the door close, then turned to Lance. “Poor girl,” Alrys said, shaking her head. She then cast a glance at Lance. “And you, I suppose.”

Lance shrugged uncomfortably, unsure what to say. Alrys continued, speaking quietly while Lord Kyrion and the rest of his panel discussed among themselves. “The matter we discussed has become significantly more urgent. If we do not find the agent, the fate of this planet stands at stake.” Alrys glanced at Kyrion before continuing. “The penalty for attempted murder, and treason at that, is death. While I doubt that Kyrion would execute the Black Paladin, the only way he could be released, if not proven innocent, would be a staged escape, which would lower this planet’s relations to Voltron, and the Coalition, to the point at which alliance would be impossible.” Lance nodded. “If, on the other hand, a galra agent were found to be manipulating the palace, and making attempts on the crown prince’s life, it would be unthinkable to ally ourselves with the galra, under any circumstances.

“I do not wish to burden you with the weight of expectation, Paladin Lance. However, you may be this planet’s only hope. I wish you the best.” She turned back toward Kyrion and his council.

As Lance turned to leave, Kyrion called him. “Paladin.”

“Yes, my lord?”

“Do you believe the Black Paladin to be capable of such an act?”

Lance paused to order his thoughts before responding. “Shiro… earned a reputation for viciousness in the galra arena. However, in truth, he is one of the kindest, most noble people I have ever met. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that he would never do something like this.” Lance started out the door again, then paused. “But, I understand how things look. Do you know when Kyrick will be recovered?”

“Thank you, Paladin. Kyrick will be recovered in only a few vargas, but he will probably require a night’s rest before he is fully restored.”

“Alright. Tell him I wish him the best.”

“I shall.”

Lance exited the room, closing the door behind him, before heading to his room. Some silence and a long, warm shower were in order.

* * *

 

 Lance stared at the ceiling as he laid in his bed, pondering the events of the day. Shiro was under arrest for poisoning the crown prince, Allura went into a panic every time Lance talked to anyone, Kyrick was in the infirmary recovering from being poisoned, and Lance had absolutely no idea where or how to find the true perpetrator.

Lance sighed loudly and put his hand over his eyes. Allura had informed them that the dinner party, and the tournament, were canceled due to the ongoing investigation. This left Lance more time than he wanted to himself.

His thoughts turned to the conversation at the wind shrine. Quintessence seemed to be the key to all of this. If Lance could only figure out how to use it… He stood up and walked over to the sink again, and turned on the tap, letting water drip from his finger. Staring intensely, he willed the water to stay in the air.

As expected, nothing happened. “Come on, Lance. You need to figure this out,” Lance said to himself. For the next half hour, Lance tried desperately to will the water from inevitably dropping from his finger. Dishearteningly, the water did exactly what water does. After one final failed attempt, Lance groaned in frustration and flopped back down on his bed. He needed to do something else for a while. Keith had mentioned a coast…

Lance threw on some shoes and walked down the hall. After making it to the palace entrance, he consulted a map. The coast was… in the exact opposite direction from the wind shrine. Hopefully, the trails would be better maintained. He doubted it, remembering Pidge’s rant about rock climbing.

* * *

 

 Sure enough, after a half an hour of walking past trees, through grass, and over rocks, Lance could see the telltale blue of the ocean through the trees, barely visible due to Merian’s star, which was dipping close to the horizon. Soon afterward, he stopped and surveyed the coastline, from atop the edge of a cliff. He looked in either direction; it didn’t look like there would be any easy way down. Luckily, the cliff was full of handholds and tree roots to hold on to.

After making the somewhat treacherous climb down, Lance took off his shoes and walked along the coast. Lance had grown up around the ocean, and the sound of waves crashing against the shore was therapeutic. The tide was going out, and after walking for a little while, the coastline expanded out into a more scenic-looking beach. Due to the low tides, sandbars were uncovered, leading out to tall outcroppings of rocks. If Lance wanted, he could easily walk/swim out and climb on top of them.

For the first time in days, Lance smiled widely and happily as the ocean wind swept over him. This place truly was beautiful. Even though it wasn’t Cuba. A pang of homesickness hit him, but it faded just as quickly as he walked out across a sandbar. The rock outcroppings were all surrounded by shallow water and exposed sand from the tides, so Lance chose the one farthest from the shore, and began to climb.

Although he fell a couple times from low heights into the shallow water below, eventually he got into the rhythm of things, and began to climb in earnest. Three quarters of the way up, Lance looked down at the water below. From this height, falling would be dangerous, but somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to be truly afraid.

Finally, Lance reached the top, just as the sun was beginning to touch the horizon. Looking across the ocean, Lance was surprised to see a human figure sitting, arms wrapped around his legs, beside a small stone structure. As he walked closer, he recognized the black hair.

“Enjoying yourself?” Lance asked. Keith jumped, startled, but continued to stare out at the ocean. As Lance drew closer, he saw that Keith was curled in on himself, and shaking slightly. “Keith?”

“Please leave.” Keith spoke quickly and quietly, but Lance could hear the shudder in his voice.

“Could I… stay, please?” Lance asked in a soft voice, as he sat down next to Keith. His eyes were covered by his arms, but Lance could see the tear tracks on the lower half of his face.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t-- I can’t-- I don’t think I can--” Keith cut off as another tear dropped to the ground.

“Do you… mind if I put an arm on your back?”

There was a pause before Keith almost imperceptibly shook his head. Light as a feather, Lance put his arm around Keith. For a few seconds, they stayed like that, until Keith slowly leaned into him, still shaking. Lance knew that Keith had strong emotions, but this was the first time Lance had seen him so vulnerable.

“Sometimes things can get… overwhelming,” Lance said softly. “But, if you want to talk to me, I  would be happy to listen. And if you don’t, that’s also okay.”

They sat there for awhile, as Keith slowly unraveled, until his head was resting on Lance’s shoulder. “I just--” Keith started, voice small. “I-- I feel so alone right now-- and I know-- I know that’s-- ridiculous, because-- because we’re a team-- but I still feel-- sometimes like I’m outside of that-- even though that’s stupid--” Keith fell silent.

Lance rubbed Keith’s back as he responded. “Hey. That’s not stupid at all. You were alone for a really long time.”

“And-- and now Shiro’s gone-- but even-- even before now he’s been kind of gone anyways-- since he-- he always spends his time with Allura-- since, since he’s the leader now-- but I feel terrible for thinking like that because-- because of course Shiro is allowed to spend time with other people-- but it seems like we’re not-- we’re not as close anymore, like we were--”

 _Of course,_ Lance thought to himself. Since Shiro was the team leader, naturally that would put a strain on Keith’s relationship with him. “I definitely understand, Keith. I’ve noticed how fragmented the team is too. It makes sense that you’d feel it the most, since you and Shiro are so close.”

“But-- but are we? Anymore? It seems-- it seems like he always has something more important to-- to do nowadays-- which-- which is natural, and it makes sense-- of, of course he’d have more to do, and-- and not have as much time-- but I--  I just can’t--” Keith cut off again, and started to shake.

“Hey… hey…” Lance murmured. “This is really hard for you, and no one should have to go through this. But… just know that whatever happens, we’ll be there for you. You might not believe it now, but someday, you’ll be able to count on us just as much as Shiro.”

“But-- but what about when the war ends-- you-- you all have-- families, and-- and homes to, to go back to-- and I-- Voltron-- Voltron was the best thing that-- that ever happened to me-- because for the first-- for the first time, I had a place where-- where I belonged-- but that’s terrible!-- because a giant war was the best thing to, to ever happen to me?-- it’s so selfish-- but I-- I just--”

“You’re… you’re not selfish for wanting a place to belong, Keith. You’re right; someday, the war will end. But, at this rate, that day will be a long ways off. In that time, we’ll grow way, way closer together. Even if it doesn’t seem like it sometimes. I promise, when the war ends, _if_ the war ends, we won’t leave you behind,” Lance said, staring out across the ocean as the sun set. “I… I have so much family, I can share them. They’d love you.”

Slowly, Keith was beginning to stop shaking, though Lance guessed it was just time. “Are… are you sure? I wouldn’t-- I wouldn’t want to be-- be annoying, or rude, or…” he trailed off.

“Of course I’m sure. My oldest sister, Camila, is married to a woman named Sofi. They’re perfect together; everyone was so happy for them when they announced their engagement. Sofi’s parents were… less excited. Actually, they were disgusted. When she told them about her engagement, they didn't take it well. They ostracized her from the family. We all took her in; she’s practically another sister to me. Mama and Papa treat her exactly the same as they would any of their other kids,” Lance paused as a sliver of homesickness stuck in his throat. “If you want, there’s always going to be a room for you at the Mcclain household. And I know Hunk’s parents would do the same. I can’t speak for Pidge’s family, because I don’t know them, but if they’re anything like Pidge…” Lance chuckled. “Well, I’m sure they’d love you too.”

Keith stayed silent for a while, but he had stopped crying. Lance guessed he just didn’t know how to respond. After a few minutes of silence, Lance spoke again. “It’s a beautiful sunset. You sure have good taste.”

Keith let out a small, wet laugh. “I didn’t really pick this place for the view, but it worked out well.”

“Guess it’s just instincts, then. Apparently you have some of those. Or so I hear,” Lance said lightly.

Keith punched him on the shoulder, but there was no strength in it. Though Lance couldn’t see his face very well, he could tell Keith was smiling. They stayed like that for a long time, watching the sunset. Eventually, Keith shifted and stiffly stood up, and Lance followed suit.

“Hey…” Keith’s voice was so quiet, Lance almost didn’t catch it.

“Hmm?”

“…Thanks, for, um, staying.”

“Absolutely, Keith.”

Lance looked around the rock, and his eyes fell on the small stone structure. It looked similar to the wind shrine in the field. “Hey, do you think this is some kind of shrine?”

Keith looked over curiously. “Maybe? It looks kind of like one. Honestly, though, I wouldn’t know.”

“There’s a another one on the edge of a really windy cliff. I was told it was a wind shrine. Maybe this is another one.”

Keith’s brows furrowed. “There’s another one? That’s pretty cool. I wonder if there are more.”

“This planet has a history of quintessence users. Maybe there are five, one for each quintessence type.”

“That would make this the blue quintessence shrine? I think?”

Lance nodded. Hm. The blue quintessence shrine. He walked closer to the structure, and crouched down to examine it further. Carved glyphs wrapped around the side, but the smooth top seemed to function as a bench, just like the wind shrine. He reached out a hand and brushed the glyphs.

A comforting, warm feeling curled through him, and Lance startled.

“Lance?” Keith asked, evidently having noticed his jump.

“Uh, yeah, just something--” Lance cut off as he stared at Keith. A faint, red aura that Lance instinctively knew wasn’t a part of the normal light spectrum surrounded him. “Quintessence,” Lance breathed. Excitement coursed through him. This must have been what Alrys meant by quintessence sensing.

“Um. Are you… okay?” Keith was looking slightly concerned.

Lance realized he was still staring at Keith. “Yeah! Yeah, I’m good.” Focusing, he tried to turn the newfound sense off. Shockingly, the red aura around Keith disappeared. _And can I turn it back on…?_

…Nope. Lance reached out and touched the shrine again. Now hyper-aware, he let the warmth flow through him. The aura was back. _Turn it off… and back on? And_ … Lance pumped his fist triumphantly. Keith’s aura was back, and this time he’d activated the quintessence sight himself. Lance stood back up, grinning widely. As he stood, a sudden exhaustion washed over him. He guessed that self-activation took a lot of his own energy, since he wasn’t used to it.

“Lance, are you sure you’re okay?” Keith looked completely befuddled. “You’ve been staring at me for, like, twenty seconds.”

“Yeah!” Lance was pulled back into the present. “Sorry, the shrine just, I kinda got lost in thought.”

Keith looked slightly unconvinced, but he dropped the subject. “We’d probably better head back soon. It’s starting to get dark.”

Lance looked out over the ocean. The sun had completely set, and the sky was beginning to darken. He walked over to the edge of the rock and watched the waves crashing below. They were pretty high up. Keith called over to him. “Do you… know how we’re going to get down from here?”

“We might be able to jump, if the water below is deep enough,” Lance replied, scanning the waters. “I’m pretty sure this spot would be safe.”

“Jump? Isn’t it too high for that? How would we even…” Keith let the question hang in the air.

“Nah, we could totally jump from here.” Lance looked over at Keith, who was eyeing the waves nervously. “Have you never…?”

“I grew up in a desert. I’ve only been to the beach once.”

“Huh. Well, it’s pretty easy, but it can be nerve wracking if you’ve never done it before.” Lance glanced to the side of the rock facing the coast. “You could try climbing back down the other side, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s easier to fall going down than coming up, and into shallow water, that could be dangerous.”

Keith was still nervously looking down at the waves. “I… I can jump. I’ve just… never done it before.”

Lance walked over to him. “Well, luckily for you, I consider myself quite the expert at jumping into the ocean! All you have to do is stand up straight, like this,” Lance demonstrated. “And hold your nose shut, so you don’t get water in it. Yep, just like that.”

“Could you… do it first? So I can see?”

“Sure can.” Actually, Lance had planned to go first anyways, since he wanted to make sure it was safe to jump into. He was reasonably confident it was fine, but it never hurt to make sure. He walked over and stood on the very edge of the rock. “Alright, you watching?”

Keith nodded in reply.

“Ready… set… jump!” Lance leapt out, wind rushing past him as he fell into the water. Once the water had taken the edge off his velocity, he swam upwards until his head broke above the waves. Keith’s head was visibly leaning over the rock, watching him. “Just like that!” Lance yelled up. “There’s plenty of room to jump, you don’t have to worry about any rocks!” He swam out of the way. “Take a running start!” Keith’s head disappeared. A few seconds later, Lance watched as Keith jumped out and fell into the water with a splash, stiff as a board. As soon as Keith’s head broke the surface, Lance could hear him laughing.

“That was amazing!” Keith said as he swam over to him.

Lance laughed with him. “Yeah, back home I loved to do this sort of thing. Course, I took it for granted then.” They swam around the rock until they reached the sand bar, and walked back to the beach, laughing and talking the whole time. By the time they made it back to the palace, their clothes were almost dry. Night had fully fallen, and the stars were out.

When they were just outside the hallway to their room, Lance turned to face Keith. “Hey, I know you probably don’t want to talk about some of what happened today, and that’s totally okay. But, those sorts of things… tend to take a lot of energy out of you. Could you maybe try to rest a little tomorrow?”

Keith looked at him, surprised. “Oh. Um, yeah, I’ll try to do that.”

“Cool, thanks.” Lance turned away to walk towards his room.

“And…” Lance paused, and turned his head back to look at Keith, who was looking at the floor nervously. “Again… um, thanks. Other than… the thing… I enjoyed everything else.”

Lance smiled warmly. “Absolutely, Keith. And I enjoyed it, too.” 

With that, Lance went back to his room, exhausted, but feeling better than he had in awhile.


	5. Agent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't think of anything to say... but I deeply appreciate all of you. So, here you go.  
> Wait, hold on. Trigger warning. I describe a pretty realistic emotional breakdown, from my own experience. I'm sure most of you would be fine, but I can't decide what's okay for other people. Everyone's different, shit happens, and sometimes it's good to avoid certain things. So, it's best to be cautious.  
> That said, I hope you enjoy!

-Next Day-

The next morning, Lance walked into the breakfast hall, and walked over to where the other paladins were sitting. Although the rest of the room bustled with the white noise of hundred conversations, the paladins’ table was silent and tense. Lance sat down and grabbed some food before speaking.

“So, Allura, what’s the game plan for today?”

“I intend to speak to Kyrion and assist with the investigation. Pidge, Hunk, I may want your help at some point in the day. However, for now, you all may do as you wish.” Allura frowned. “I want you all to stay out of the way of the palace officials, however. I do not know how they may react to you, with Shiro under suspicion.” The paladins nodded.

As he ate, Lance’s thoughts turned to himself. Somehow, he needed to find a spy. He tried to switch on his quintessence sight, and panicked slightly when nothing happened. Willing himself to be calm, he closed his eyes. _Just think back to yesterday._ He thought about the warm feeling he’d gotten from the shrine, and tried to tap into it again. He opened his eyes again… and grinned. Around each paladin, there was a faint quintessence aura. He turned it off again and continued his meal.

When they had finished and were just starting to disperse from the hall, Lance caught Hunk. “Hey, buddy, can I ask a favor?”

Hunk turned. “Yeah, sure. What’s up?”

“I have some stuff to do today. Keith totally exhausted himself yesterday rock-climbing at the beach, so he’s super low on energy right now,” Lance said, the lie coming easily. Although Hunk was his best friend, some things weren’t his to tell. “Since I assume you and Pidge are gonna be spending the day together, could you take Keith with you and keep him from doing anything crazy?”

Hunk laughed. “Yeah, Keith tends to go hard. Sure, I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Awesome, thanks.” Lance smiled and walked out of the hall.

* * *

 

Once back in his room, Lance closed the door and stared at it. He turned on his magic sight and looked around the room. Nothing at all. Could it see through walls? He tried to sense past the walls, but to no avail. He sighed. The hard way, it was, then.

Lance spent the next few vargas roaming the halls, spying out the quintessence of those around him. He wandered the halls, occasionally picked up tasks from Meriades, sat in on a few meetings, and generally observed the entire population of Merian’s palace. Was it indecent to look at other people’s quintessence? Lance sure hoped not. He didn’t think so. _What am I even looking for?_ he wondered. Did galra quintessence look different than other quintessence types?

He remembered Haggar’s quintessence vats on that galra ship. That quintessence had looked totally different than any of the quintessence Lance was seeing. Maybe that was just because it was so refined. Was it refined, or corrupted? What did corrupted quintessence look like? He assumed the difference would be pretty obvious.

Lost in his thoughts, and his observations, Lance didn’t notice the creeping exhaustion until noon. As he headed to the lunch hall, he turned off his magic sight, and promptly fell over from the sudden wave of tiredness that swept over him. _Note to self: don’t use magic sight all the time._ Lance frowned. He needed to use it to catch the spy. Hopefully lunch would re-energize him.

As Lance ate alone in the lunch hall, he pondered his newfound quintessence abilities. Clearly, it cost him in energy. How many calories did quintessence manipulation burn? Or, maybe it just tired out the mind, rather than the body. Lance had no idea.

A sudden voice interrupted him from his thoughts. “Hey, Lance!”

Lance turned to see Kyrick, looking just as he had before the poisoning. “Kyrick! Holy crow!” Lance stood up and walked over to him as he spoke. “How are you? Are you okay? Are you completely recovered?”

Kyrick laughed as Lance barraged him with questions. “Woah, woah, take it easy. I’m terribly fragile.” Lance frowned, but Kyrick winked. They both laughed. “I’m doing way better. They caught the poison super early, and Meriad medical technology is pretty advanced. Not even any long term complications.”

Lance smiled. “That’s great news. I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Yeah,” Kyrick said, then frowned. “I heard about the vial found in Shiro’s room. That’s… pretty terrible. Hopefully, Father’s investigation will turn something up.”

“Yeah.” Lance’s mouth pinched into a line. “Speaking of, do you have any idea who could have done it?”

Kyrick shrugged apologetically. “I mean, anyone could have. I don’t believe Shiro did, but…”

Lance nodded. “Well… yeah. In absence of other evidence… I get it.”

“Speaking of which; I’m actually here for a purpose.” Lance raised an eyebrow. “A purpose besides seeing your lovely face,” Kyrick amended.

Lance grinned. “Oh?”

“I’m supposed to interview any paladins I think might have information,” Kyrick explained. “Truth be told, I might just interview you and call it there.”

“What about Shiro?”

Kyrick’s eyes widened comically and he smiled. “‘Hey, Leader of Voltron! I’m the reason you’re currently imprisoned! How are things going! Hope you’re finding your cell to be just marvelous!’”

Lance laughed. “Okay, maybe you have a point. Well, want to grab a plate and sit down?”

“Actually, I’m not supposed to eat from the dining hall for a week or two. You know, standard ‘I just got poisoned’ protocol.”

“Oh. Right. I should have thought about that. Well, sit down and enviously watch me eat my food, then?”

They both sat down, and Kyrick asked Lance a few question about standard things, such as his relation to Shiro, and the rest of the paladins, and his thoughts upon the matter. Soon, he ran out of questions, so they just chatted comfortably. After awhile, Kyrick had another meeting to attend, so they said their goodbyes, leaving Lance alone at the table again.

After he finished eating, Lance continued to wander around the castle. He was more sparing with his magic sight, remembering how it had drained him. Come mid afternoon, however, Lance had still found nothing, and was more than a little irritated by it. Needing a break, Lance decided to check up on Shiro.

* * *

 

Merian’s palace was a sight to see above ground, but there were several floors underground as well, comprising of laboratories, high-security meeting rooms, and intelligence hubs. And, a holding cell that currently housed Shiro. Lance guessed the lower section had been built later, for more modern uses. The halls and rooms were composed more of plastic than stone and wood, and while it was clearly still busy, less Meriades traversed the halls; those who did were clearly in military or scientific positions.

After taking the elevator down, Lance walked through the halls until he was outside the door to Shiro’s containment cell. Two guards stood outside, but they let Lance pass.

Shiro’s cell was actually pretty well furnished. There were books to read (though Lance wasn’t sure how Shiro was supposed to read them) and a TV, which was on a news channel. There was a treadmill in the corner, and the bed looked at least decently comfy. Thin, clear bars separated the cell from the rest of the room. Although they looked like glass, Lance knew they had to be far stronger.

As the door shut behind him, Shiro glanced up from the bed, looking surprised to see him. “Hey, Lance. Why are you here?”

Lance shrugged. “I just wanted to see how things are going. Also, had a couple questions.”

“Oh. Well…” Shiro gestured around the cell. “It’s pretty boring here, but they’re trying to keep me comfortable.”

Lance looked around the room. Upon seeing that there were no chairs, he sat down on the white floor. “How do they expect you to read those books?”

“Actually, they gave me a translator,” Shiro said, holding up a small, clear, square-shaped window-looking device. “Unfortunately, they all seem to be poorly written romance novels or young adult fiction.”

Lance threw back his head and laughed. “Yikes, man, that’s terrible.”

Shiro smiled halfheartedly. “Yeah, it’s not great.” He looked up at Lance. “How are things going up top?”

“Well…” Lance paused. “Allura is pretty stressed, but she’s… doing her best. Keith, Hunk, and Pidge are supposed to be taking it easy today, which is code for, hide your children,” --Shiro laughed at that-- “and the investigation is in full swing. Oh, and Kyrick is fully recovered,” Lance added as an afterthought.

Shiro grimaced. “Yeah, he came by to interrogate me earlier. Not the most fun conversation I’ve had.”

Lance cocked his head. “Oh, huh. We were chatting at lunch today, and he said he probably wasn’t going to interrogate you. Said it was a little awkward to talk to someone you’d accidentally gotten locked up.”

“Lunch?” Shiro’s brow furrowed. “He interrogated me early this morning.”

Lance suddenly stopped twitching as the words sank in. He was brought back to attention by Shiro snapping. “Uh, Lance? You okay? You just stood stock still there for a moment.”

“Yeah, sorry!” Lance looked down. “I just, thought Kyrick and I were getting along pretty well. I didn’t think… well, I don’t know.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow. “You and Kyrick? Getting along? Are we talking about the same person?” Lance’s eyes narrowed as Shiro continued. “He seemed pretty uptight when he was interrogating me. Typical ‘entitled noble who thinks he deserves to know everything about your life.’ Seems like the sort of guy you’d hate.”

A cold feeling was gathering in Lance’s stomach. “That’s strange. Uh, if you don’t mind me asking, what sorts of things was he asking about?”

“Well, he asked a lot of questions about Voltron, and you paladins, and Allura. He asked a few questions about the poisoning, but other than that…” Shiro frowned. “Actually, I had to tell him to back off a couple of times. I understand he needs to know about the poisoning, but there’s no reason for him to know about Voltron’s paladins, and our fighting capabilities.”

Lance could feel his heart beating faster as the icy feeling intensified. “Shiro, did--” Lance cut off as the door behind him hissed open. Already jittery, Lance jolted upright and turned around.

Kyrick stood in the doorway. His face, rather than being friendly and relaxed, as Lance was used to, was set in hard lines of scorn. Not even sparing him a glance, Kyrick walked stiffly into the room, door hissing shut behind him. “Black paladin. You will come with me.”

Lance’s heart was pounding, but his face and posture betrayed nothing but mild annoyance. “What are you doing here?”

Kyrick glanced over at him, as if he wasn’t worthy of his full attention. “I am here to interrogate your leader for poisoning me. I have no use for you; now, leave.”

Lance turned on his magic sight, and almost stepped back in horror. Although Kyrick’s quintessence was mostly blue, and slightly red and black, it was choked down by strands of twisting purple. A muted sense of wrongness shadowed through Lance’s mind, and he suddenly remembered the dinner party. Despite his discomfort, Lance held his ground and replied. “You’ve already interrogated him once. Why again?”

Kyrick turned to face him fully, face twisted in anger and contempt. “You have conspired to kill me. Consider yourself lucky I have not yet had him tortured. Leave, paladin, before I have you hung up and whipped.” The strands of purple twisted tighter around Kyrick’s quintessence, as if to keep it down. Was it Lance’s imagination, or was there a plea in his eyes?

Lance bowed his head in submission, body language conveying fear. “Sorry, my lord. I just… can I please talk to Shiro for a second? I promise I’ll be fast.” As he spoke, Lance examined Kyrick’s quintessence. The purple strands all emanated from a glowing source on Kyrick’s neck. A necklace. _Could I…?_ Lance’s mind raced. Kyrick was wearing a necklace; a thin, gold chain holding a pendant with a green stone.

Kyrick stared down at him coldly. “Very well. Hurry, before I change my mind.”

Lance walked over to the cell bars and gestured Shiro over to him. “Allura wanted me to tell you…” he started off, making his voice barely audible to Kyrick. As soon as Shiro was right next to him, Lance leaned forward. “Shiro, this is extremely important,” he whispered. Shiro visibly tensed at Lance’s tone, realizing something was wrong. “Please, trust me. I’m going to tell you to do something, and you _need to do it_.” Shiro hesitated, but nodded.

Lance stepped back and plastered a fake smile on his face as he walked back to Kyrick. “Thank you, again, my lord,” Lance said, raising his hands deferentially.

With sudden swiftness, Lance shot forward and grabbed the pendant. As soon as his hand closed around it, darkness crashed into his skull, the same feeling of desperate horror from the dinner party racing through his head. While he was temporarily stunned by the wave of darkness, Kyrick’s eyes flashed with fury, and he reached out and closed his hands around Lance’s neck, slamming him into a wall.

The impact jarred Lance out of his stupor, allowing him to regain control of his mind. Despite the pressure around his neck, he pulled at the pendant, the gold chain giving way easily. As soon as it came free, he threw it towards Shiro. Kyrick dropped Lance, who collapsed on the floor coughing, and turned towards Shiro, who had grabbed the pendant and was staring at Lance, eyes wide.

Between body-racking coughs, Lance yelled out “Crush it Shiro! Now!”

As Kyrick dashed towards Shiro, Shiro switched the pendant to his already-activated galra arm, and squeezed down.

A crack reverberated around the room, and fragments of the pendant fell from Shiro’s hand. Suddenly, Kyrick stopped moving, and his posture slumped. He turned toward Lance slowly, a question in his eyes.

Lance, still coughing, managed to say “I think it worked.”

Kyrick put a hand over his mouth. “Oh, god.” He rushed over and knelt by Lance, who was slowly recovering. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” he repeated over and over again, voice shaking.

Lance, no longer coughing, put an arm around him. “Hey. It wasn’t your fault. You’re free.” Adrenaline still coursed through him, and his neck was going to bruise, but he’d done it. A sudden thrill went through him. He’d found the spy.

Kyrick was looking at him, fear, pain, relief, and guilt swimming in his eyes as a tear traced down his cheek. “Oh, god, Lance, I… I’m so sorry, I couldn’t fight it, I, I tried, so hard, but I still, I couldn’t,” he trailed off.

Lance guided him to sit against the wall next to him, comforting him quietly. “No way, Kyrick. This wasn’t you. It’s alright now.”

Kyrick’s voice shook as he talked. “Half a phoeb ago, I was on a diplomatic mission to the galra. The day before I went back, I woke up with the necklace around my neck. I… I tried to take it off, but something… something in my head, stopped me from doing it. I tried to talk about it, tried to call attention to it, tried-- I tried to do, say, anything, but it-- it stopped me. When I got home, it started to-- it started to take control of me, force me to do things, and I knew, I could feel it in my head, watching me.” A deep, full body shudder went through him. “Oh, god.”

Shiro was listening intently, eyes still wide and resting on Kyrick as he spoke. “It was… It was me who put the poison in my cup. And hid the rest of it in Shiro’s room. It was me who tried to get you to talk about Voltron and… and all of its secrets.” Kyrick’s eyes were haunted. “And I was… I was about to…”

Lance cut him off. “No, you weren’t. You’d never do any of that. This was all Haggar, controlling your body through the pendant.” Lance ran a hand through his feathers. “But she’s gone now. And she’ll never control you again.”

Another tear traced down Kyrick’s cheek. “Oh, god. It’s… it’s finally over. God, Lance, you… thank you.” He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Thank you, so, so much.”

As they sat there, the door hissed open, and Lord Kyrion and Lady Alrys charged in, stopping cold when they saw Lance and Kyrion sitting against the wall. Kyrion was armed with a metallic saber, and Lady Alrys was holding a gun. Kyrion spoke first. “Alrys alerted me to fighting. What… what’s going on?”

Kyrick looked at them, pain in his eyes. Lance stood up. “I… I can explain. But I think Kyrick needs some food. Or maybe a shower. Or a long, relaxing walk on the beach.”

Kyrick stood, too. “I… would appreciate some time alone, for now.” He turned to Lance, then enveloped him in a crushing hug. “Thank you,” he whispered in his ear.

Once Kyrick left the room, Lance explained to Alrys and Kyrion what had happened, leaving out how he’d seen Kyrick’s quintessence. He wasn’t sure he wanted Shiro to know about his newfound abilities yet. As he relayed the tale, Alrys’s eyes widened, and Kyrion’s darkened.

“So the agent wasn’t acting by his own will,” Alrys said. “I… I never thought Haggar could do something like that.”

Kyrion spoke quietly, but there was cold fury in his voice. “They will pay dearly for what they have put my son through.”

Alrys walked over to Shiro’s cell, and typed in a code. The bars fell. “You are free, Black Paladin. I am sorry events led us to confine you.” Shiro, though still confused, gave a thank you and stepped out of the cell.

Kyrion held out his arm to Lance. “You have performed admirably, Paladin. I am… truly grateful to you for your actions, and for your character.” Lance accepted the handshake, and lost balance as Kyrion pulled him into a hug.

Alrys had returned to Kyrion’s side. “Now, we must handle what we tell the planet. Normally, I support honesty in public relations, however… I think Kyrick has gone through enough.”

Kyrion nodded. “We will say we found a galra spy in the castle, who planted the poison,” he replied. “Due to this blatant treachery, we will, of course, join the coalition. The galra have proven themselves incapable of dealing honorably.”

At that statement, Shiro interjected into the conversation. “On behalf of Voltron, we thank you for your decision, and look forward to working with you.”

Alrys, Kyrion, and Lance shared a glance. “Black Paladin, I expect Princess Allura will want to know as soon as possible,” Kyrion said, holding up a small tablet device. “I have sent a memo out to the palace, and you are now free to walk the halls.” Shiro thanked him, and left, leaving the three of them alone.

“Paladin, Merian stands in your debt, as do I,” Kyrion said, smiling. “If there is any repayment you desire, we would be more than happy to oblige.”

Lance shifted uncomfortably. “I was just trying my best to help out. I’m sure, as far as debts are concerned, you joining the coalition would be repayment enough,” he said. A thought occured to him. “However, Lady Alrys, um… do you know anything about corrupted quintessence?”

Alrys shook her head. “Corrupted quintessence? I believe Haggar and her druids use it. That is the extent of my knowledge.”

Lance narrowed his eyes. “Somehow, the pendant was filled with corrupted quintessence. The corruption was smothering Kyrick’s own quintessence, and that was how he was being controlled. That’s why I ask.”

Kyrion raised an eyebrow. “I notice you left that out of the story you told Shiro.”

Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah… I, guess I’m not sure how to approach telling the team.”

Kyrion nodded. “Alrys kept me informed about the situation. I wish you the best of luck.” He smiled. “Though if I am to judge, I suspect you will not need it.” With that, Alrys and Kyrion walked out of the room, leaving Lance alone.

* * *

-Next Day-

Lance awoke to the sun streaming through the window. He checked his timepiece; it was a varga til breakfast, earlier than he usually woke up. After clearing up his things, he took a long, warm shower, letting the previous day’s intensity wash away.

At the dinner party the night before, Kyrion had officially made the announcement that Merian would be joining the coalition, and had given the news that a galra spy had been found to have made the attempt on Kyrick’s life. Although the team as a whole was very hazy about exactly what had gone on, they were happy at the outcome, and Shiro and Allura specifically had been in high spirits for the rest of the night.

Although Kyrick had been present at the dinner party, Lance had to search him out to start a conversation. He’d been quiet and withdrawn at first, but soon the two were laughing and joking again. And if he was a bit more reserved than he should have been… well, Lance knew that time was perhaps the only cure for some wounds.

Once the announcement had been made, Hunk and Pidge had been sure to seek out the head scientists once more for an in-depth talk about military technology, a conversation that both sides benefited from. Shiro and Allura had made sure the palace could contact the coalition’s council, for diplomatic purposes. It was decided that Voltron, their visiting purpose concluded, would leave the following morning, after breakfast.

After Lance’s shower, as he was putting on the paladin armor, a knock came at the door. “I’ll be right there!” he yelled.

Once fully dressed, he opened the door to see Derin holding a small, white package. “Hey, Lance! I was instructed to deliver this to you personally.” Lance took the package as Derin stared at him curiously. “Is it true what everyone’s been saying?”

“What are they saying?”

“That you found and exposed a galra spy in the palace.”

“Well,” Lance started. “I, uh guess. But I had a lot of help.”

Derin whistled. “Wow, it must have been an intense couple of days.”

Lance laughed. “Uh, yeah, let’s just say I’m glad things ended well.”

“Definitely. Well, I have more stuff to deliver, so I’d better go. I guess… this is goodbye?”

A small sliver of sadness cut through him. Even though he’d only been here a couple of days, he’d be sad to leave. “Oh. Right. Yeah, I suppose it is.”

“Well… good luck, I guess.” Derin smiled sadly. “I hope it’s enough.”

Lance reached out an arm. Derin took it, and Lance pulled him into a hug. “Yeah, good luck to you too.” With that, Derin left, and Lance went back inside his room.

Sitting on the bed, Lance studied the package. After tearing away paper, he uncovered a smooth, white case. Inside was a twisting, tree-like, silvery medallion, decorated with smooth, round emeralds. Along with the medallion was a note.

_Paladin Lance,_

_You said that joining the coalition was thanks enough for you, but Lady Alrys and I beg to differ. You have shown courage, intelligence, and kindness for no other reason than the desire to help those around you. Given your service to both the Royal Family, and Merian as a whole, we present you with this. Although we know you are a visitor here, and may not grasp the importance of this medallion, know that it is reserved for a very select few. It is a token of our gratitude, and a symbol of our regard. May the stars guide you._

The letter was signed by Lady Alrys, and another Merian signature that Lance assumed was Kyrion’s. Warmth spread through Lance’s chest as he read it. _Maybe… I’m doing something right._ Putting the medallion, note, and case with the rest of his packed belongings, Lance headed down to breakfast.

* * *

 

It may have been Lance’s imagination, but the hall seemed to grow quieter when he entered. More eyes than usual turned towards him as he walked towards their usual table. Lance had arrived to breakfast earlier than usual, and only Shiro and Allura were seated at the table. As he sat down, the conversations around the hall picked back up.

“Hello, Lance,” Shiro greeted him. “Sleep well?”

“You know,” replied Lance, piling food on his plate, “actually, given yesterday, I thought I’d sleep better, but I woke up pretty early today.”

“Huh. Well, Allura and I wanted to talk to you, so since you’re here early, we might as well start now.”

Lance felt tension seep into the air as Allura spoke. “I wish to clarify some things. First, you deduced that Haggar was controlling the prince through a pendant, yes?”

Lance nodded. “More or less, yeah.”

“And how were you able to discover this?”

“Um, one of the palace officials already had suspicions, I just kind of put the pieces together.” Lance shifted uncomfortably. Why did this feel more like an interrogation than a conversation?

Allura nodded. “How did you know it was the pendant?”

An image of the corrupted purple choking down Kyrick’s quintessence flashed through his mind. “Uh. Well, I guess I wasn’t completely certain, but… it was the most likely option.”

Allura crossed her arms. “So you admit that you recruited Shiro to aid you in a plan you didn’t know would work, and that could have ended in offending a high-level palace official, and destabilizing our relations with Merian as a whole.”

Lance stared at her, his mind blank with shock. He knew this wasn’t going to be a happy conversation, but… _what?_ Shiro interjected. “Allura, please. Remember what we talked about.”

Allura’s glare mollified somewhat. “Of course. Lance. Do not misunderstand me; I am happy that we have gained the alliance of Merian. I understand you had a role in that. However, had you been slightly less lucky, things could have turned out drastically different.”

Lance sat in silence before his mind started working again. “Oh, no, Princess, I understand what you’re saying, but I had enough information to decide that it was a chance worth taking. I would never--”

Shiro cut him off. “Lance, I understand that you thought it was a good decision. But you can’t make that call.”

“And,” continued Allura, “that was not the only thing you’ve done behind our backs during this mission. You’ve met with high ranking palace officials without our permission, and made negotiations difficult for Shiro and I.”

Shiro nodded. “I know you thought you were helping. However, it’s important to check with us before doing things like that. Of course, things went really well on Merian! We’re just trying to improve for next time.” He chuckled. “Just remember, you’re no Pidge, or Keith.”

Lance’s perception felt distant. “Right! Okay, sorry about that. I’ll try to do better in the future.” His mouth was on autopilot. “You know, I’m pretty full, so I’ll be back in my room.” The words, though spoken from his own mouth, seemed far away. Lance stood up, and walked out of the hall.

Lance could feel it coming. He’d gone through this sort of thing before. His mind felt numb, as if thought was too much to handle. As he made his way back to his room, the emptiness slowly gave way to pain, and hurt, and self-hatred. Closing the door behind him, Lance sank down to the ground, arms wrapped tightly around his legs, body shaking silently.

 _Why am I never good enough?_ The thought echoed through his head as tears streamed down his face. Everything was tense, and uncomfortable, but Lance couldn’t bring himself to relax, not right now. The tension was in every muscle, and every thought as Lance curled tighter in on himself. _God, I’m pathetic. Get ahold of yourself._ Everything was simultaneously numb and in pain.

Lance sat like that for what seemed like hours, unable or unwilling to move, until finally he started to feel… better? Standing up slowly, Lance let out a deep breath. He needed another shower. Or maybe just wanted one. He figured he deserved it. It was only mid morning, and he already felt exhausted.

* * *

 

After his second shower, Lance put his paladin armor and packed his travel bag to leave. As he tucked the medallion away, a knock came from his door.

“Hey, Lance?” It was Hunk.

Lance tried to say something, but nothing came out. Clearing his voice, he tried again. “Hey, bud. What’s up?”

“It’s almost time to leave. Where were you at breakfast? We missed you.”

 _Fat chance._ “I woke up earlier than usual, so I got food before you all got there. Do Shiro and Allura want me out there now?”

“Nah, they just sent me to tell you.”

 _Because apparently I’m incapable of knowing how to follow basic instructions._ “Okay, I’ll be right out.” Lance hoisted his packed bag over his shoulder and walked out the door, where Hunk was waiting. As they walked toward the palace entrance, Hunk happily chatted about food.

“Lance, Merian’s government agreed to my request of fresh food supply! We’ll be set for weeks with what they’re giving us!”

Lance forced a grin. “Aw, yeah!” God, he was _tired_. Still, he kept going. “And we still have a pretty hefty stache from other planets, right?”

“Most of our supply was fine, except for the whole acid-grain thing. But now we’ll be even better!”

“Awesome. I guess they’re only sending stuff that’s edible to us as well?”

Hunk nodded. “Yeah. Luckily, the Meriad digestive system closely mimics our own and Altean, so the worst that could happen is we have an allergic reaction. Which I made sure to check beforehand,” he added.

“Well, yeah. I would expect nothing less from the best.” Lance elbowed Hunk in the side playfully.

As they walked out of the palace, a voice called out to them. “Hey! Lance!” They turned to see Kyrick walking up to them.

Lance turned to Hunk. “Hey, you mind taking my stuff to my lion?” Hunk raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

“You won’t be long?”

“Nah, I’ll catch right up.” Hunk took his bag and walked away as Kyrick approached.

“Hey,” Kyrick said. They looked at each other for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.

“Hey,” Lance mimicked. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Kyrick tilted his head suggestively. “Do I need an excuse to talk to someone like you?” He grinned, and Lance snickered. “I couldn’t let you leave without saying goodbye.” The light-heartedness dropped as Kyrick continued. “I just wanted to tell you a few things before you go.”

Lance nodded. “Go ahead.”

“First off, thanks. Again. Thank you doesn’t really convey my gratitude, but… it’ll have to do. Second off, if you ever need anything, or just a place to stay… well, I’d love to see you again. And I think dad and Lady Alrys would be happy to, as well.” Kyrick smiled sadly. “Of course, I intend to fight with everything I have against the galra, and I know you’ll be doing the same, so… maybe we won’t end up seeing each other again.” He looked down. “Third…”

Lance’s eyes widened as he was wrapped in a tight, full-body hug. “May the stars watch over you,” Kyrick whispered.

“May the stars watch over you, as well,” Lance reciprocated. They stood like that for a few more seconds, before they released, and Kyrick held him at arm’s length, smiling.

“Go quiznack things up out there.”

Lance grinned back at him. “You know it.” They stepped back. “If I can… I’d like to come back here and see you all again, too.”

With that, Kyrick walked back into the palace, and Lance walked down the road. After a few minutes of walking, he reached the landing zone, where Hunk was sitting down by his lion. Upon seeing Lance, he got up and walked over.

“Did you see the others on their way?”

Lance shook his head and checked his timepiece. “We’re a few minutes early.”

“Oh, there they are.” Hunk pointed down the road, where four figures were walking towards them, marked by their distinctive armors.

“Cool. I’ll get my lion ready.” Lance turned and walked away to his lion. Out of company, he opened his mind up to Blue. As soon as their minds connected, Lance felt a wave of concern, and a question. Unbidden, his mind snapped back to Allura and Shiro’s disapproving faces at the breakfast table. A spike of cold anger shot through the bond. _Hold on, Blue. On our way back, I’ll… tell you everything._

She could sense the weight behind his thoughts. Lance walked into Blue, and sat down in the pilot’s seat. While usually they enjoyed bandying thoughts back and forth, Lance wasn’t really up to it. Instead, they just existed together for a few minutes, and Blue didn’t pry. Eventually, a voice sounded from his helmet. “Alright, team. We ready to leave?”

Three voices confirmed.

“Ready whenever,” Lance responded.

“Alright. The castle is resting on Merian’s moon. Everyone, lift off.”

On the ride back to the castle, Lance told Blue all about what had happened on Merian; his awakened quintessence, Alrys’s information, the water shrine, and Kyrick’s pendant. As he went over Allura and Shiro’s reprimanding, his mind flicked to him curled up in his room, crying. Blue’s righteous indignation turned to hurt, anger, and concern, overlayed with a single question.

_Why didn’t you tell them?_

_I… I don’t know,_ Lance conveyed. He just… didn’t want to.

As usual, Blue conjectured. _You don’t trust them?_ Sadness flowed through the bond, but also understanding.

_Maybe not. But also, I… want to understand this, myself, before I bring other people into it._

Lance, for all his social skills, was a very private person. Although he was great at making friends, it took far more to gain his confidence. Blue understood. _Some things are… hard to share._

Blue was just as disturbed by the pendant as Lance was. The idea that Haggar could control and spy someone just by using a quintessence conduit was… disturbing, at the least. She also shared Lance’s concern for Kyrick. An ordeal like that would be hard to recover from.

When Lance told Blue about Keith at the water shrine, sadness flowed through the bond. While they both found Keith and his habits to be strange and funny at times, they also found him endearing. No one deserved to feel so alone. Lance told her about the shrine, and how it had triggered his magic sight. _Before the fall of Altea,_ Blue responded, _there were many such places. Among the wild stars, I expect there still are._

His thoughts turned to Kyrion, Alrys, and the medallion. An immense wave of happiness and pride flowed over him from Blue, and his spirits, though tired, rose a little. _Thanks, Blue. I thought I did pretty well._ His thoughts darkened. _Even if no one else did._

A sentiment of irritation flowed through the bond. _Indeed. I fear Shiro and Allura’s driven nature blinds them from the most basic truths. Try not to take it to heart._ Grim amusement echoed between them. Easier said than done.

Once they were back in the hangar, Lance stayed in Blue for another varga, letting their consciousnesses exist together for a little while longer. Eventually, though, he had to leave. As he walked out of the hangar, a voice called out to him.

“Lance, my boy! I was wondering where you’d gotten off to.” Coran was leaning against the wall, just outside of the hangar door. Lance smiled. Ever since they’d met, he and Coran had always gotten along well.

“Hey, Coran. How was the break from all of us for a few days?”

“Truth be told, the quiet emptiness starts to get to me. Well… the _quieter_ emptiness, I suppose.” A pinch of sadness went across his face, but he chippered up almost immediately. As Lance had learned, back before the fall of Altea, the castle ship had held all sorts of people, hosted numerous activities, and been a hub for scientific and diplomatic advancement. “I am glad to have you all back. I heard from Allura that the mission was a success.”

Lance nodded. “Yeah. Actually, it was pretty close for a while. Did she tell you about how Shiro was framed for poisoning the prince?”

“She told me most of what happened. Including some… issues she had with your behavior.” Lance’s posture drooped. So, the rest of the team had already been told. Amazing. “However, I would rather appreciate your side of the story.”

He gave a weak chuckle. “There’s not really much to say. Someone in the palace was being controlled by Haggar through some sort of pendant. I got information that there was a spy in the palace. Through their behavior, and the information I had, I figured out who it was. So, I recruited Shiro to crush the pendant, which freed the spy from Haggar’s influence.”

Coran side-eyed him. “And would you say that it was a large risk, doing what you did?”

“No. I knew who it was. It was… really obvious.”

“Hm. Allura made you out to be a rampaging hoffledurf. But I must say, it sounds like you did both Merian, and the coalition, a great service.”

Lance smiled halfheartedly. “They gave me a medal, so I can’t have done that badly.” He pulled out the Merian medallion out of his bag.

Coran gestured for permission, and Lance gave it to him. He looked at it closely. “Well, well. That is quite the trophy. Congratulations, Lance.” He handed it back, and Lance stowed it back into his bag. “Well, you look like you could do with some rest, and I expect Allura will want to see me in preparation for the next mission. Enjoy some time off.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Coran.” With that, Coran walked down the hall and disappeared through the door. After Lance had gone back to his room and unpacked his things, he sat down on his bed. Wow, he was tired. He checked the time; mid afternoon. _Couldn’t hurt to take a nap._ Lance took off his armor and flopped down. Within seconds, he was out.

* * *

 

 

“Begin training sequence.”

“Uh, Shiro?”

… 

“Hey, Shiro!”

… 

“SHIRO!”

“Pause training sequence! Whew. Hey, Pidge. Do you need something?”

“I, uh, yeah. I just… um, could we… talk for a little bit?”

“Sure. What’s bothering you?”

“Well, uh, to be honest, I’m not totally sure how to say it but… can we talk about Lance?”

“Oh. Is something wrong? He wasn’t at dinner today.”

“No, no, or at least, not that I know of… but, um, Hunk and I were talking before the last mission, and we… feel like you and Allura are a little… too dismissive of him, I guess? Like, I know Lance may come off as a goof, but he’s… actually, pretty smart?”

“Right, I get it. Pidge, I understand where you’re coming from. But it isn’t so much a matter of intelligence, as it is respect. Take Allura, for example. She’s lost her entire planet, along with her parents, her friends, her people, and everyone she’s ever known. When Lance jokes and messes around, especially when it comes to more serious matters, it’s really disrespectful to her.”

“I, uh, wasn’t really talking about disrespecting Allura. I haven’t noticed him doing that. I was more talking about just… being dismissive? Treating him as if he never has any valuable input, I guess? It just kinda seems like, you guys do that a lot.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Pidge. Lance has a lot of strengths. It’s important to understand that different situations are suited to different paladins. We do take Lance into account on a lot of things, just like the rest of you. But, just like we all have strengths, we all have weaknesses. What matters is accounting for all of our individual, and collective, strengths and weaknesses, and working together as a team.”

“I, uh, guess? I don’t think…” 

“Lance is a unique individual, and sometimes he can be a little disruptive. But he’s still an important part of the team. We wouldn’t forget that. Is that all you wanted to talk about?”

“Um… sure? I… okay then. I, uh, think we’re on the same page? Okay. Well, uh, I’ll just let you get back to training, then.”

“Alright. Be sure to get enough sleep.”

“Uh, right. Well. Bye.”


	6. Research

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey people! First off, sorry I haven't posted in a while. Second off, IM REALLY SORRY BUT I EDITED THE LAST CHAPTER, I ADDED A SEGMENT TO THE VERY END THAT IS IMPORTANT SO PLEASE READ THAT. I went to post a chapter today and realized I'd completely forgotten that last segment. Super sorry about that.  
> Random irrelevant sidenote, but I'm performing in a local production of Beauty and the Beast, the broadway version, so wish me luck! Opening night tomorrow!!  
> Hope you all enjoy!

-Next Day-

Lance awoke without an alarm. He rolled over and groaned, and then checked his clock. Oh, god. It was five in the morning. For another half an hour, he tried to fall back asleep, but to no avail. Considering he’d slept for a solid fourteen hours, he wasn’t too surprised. Resigning himself to being awake, he slowly sat up and blinked shadows from his eyes.

Lance stood up and stretched stiffly. It was a break day, right? He could probably wear his Altean robe/tunic thing. It was more comfortable than jeans. After flattening his messy hair, he walked down to the kitchen. As he ate the cereal that Hunk had synthesized, he pondered what to do with his extra time. He could train; he enjoyed both the long range sniping practice, and the short-mid range dual pistols. Despite what his team thought, Lance actually spent a fair amount of time on the training deck, simply because he enjoyed the dynamic challenges it provided.

He could learn more Altean. For the past several months, he’d been trying to learn the alien language, since the castle’s library was almost exclusively Altean. It was a difficult language, but Lance had an advantage, and had been making steady progress. Although he wasn’t close to fluent, he could read a fair amount of it.

His thoughts turned to the library. Altea had been highly technologically advanced. The castle’s library was likely the last remaining cache of information of its kind, so maybe it held information about quintessence awakening and control. That would be interesting, and useful.

The more Lance thought about it, the more the idea appealed to him. Finishing the last of his cereal, he washed out his bowl and walked through the dimmed hallways to the library. Walking through the door, he turned on the lights using the library computer. Most of the rooms in the castle had a personal computer that controlled things like lights and temperatures, and also helped inform and carry out the functions of the various rooms.

Using the computer, he looked up quintessence-related books. Several scientific application books, a… thesaurus?… and some quintessential theory books came up. After narrowing down what he thought would be the most useful, Lance grabbed a translating tile. While the castle ship had picked up the English language, and had applied it to its computers, the books were, of course, all still written in Altean. The translating tiles were glass tablets that read the Altean, and then displayed it in English (unfortunately for Lance, since the castle had no experience with Spanish). Sitting down on the comfortable Altean furniture, Lance started to read.

Lance sat in the library for hours, reading about quintessence theory, traits, and control. The first few books he picked up were useless; one was a scientific book about quintessence concentration in various species. Another was some sort of quintessence reading book, which Lance found to be little better than fortune-telling. Yet another was a children’s fiction book. The fourth book was more useful: _Basic Quintessence Theory._

From what Lance read, quintessence was thought to be the root of personality, but each color had too many different expressions to be accurately measured. This, and the fact that most sentient creatures had a mix of different quintessence types, made it impossible to know with any certainty just _how_ it affected personality.

Quintessence control was more easy to measure, but not much. Apparently, some creatures were able to use it, and others not. Among the species able to use it, certain individuals were clearly better at it, and all tended to express it differently. Elemental control was easy; red was fire, blue water, green life, yellow ground, and black air.

Quintessence traits were harder to understand. Alrys had told him that each type had one secondary trait, but in reality, each type had several different secondary traits, and it was theorized that there could be undiscovered traits as well. Awakened individuals started out with one trait, and could sometimes “unlock” other traits.

Lance gave special attention to the description of blue quintessence.

_Blue quintessence is the quintessence of water. Awaked blue quintessence types can control water and ice, and historically, powerful blue-types are also able to summon water-based storms (see notes on Fharin II, Matriarch Selena, Rorc the Defender). Secondary blue-type characteristics include: the ability to see and manipulate individual quintessence, sustained biological systems when immersed in water, and immunity to temperatures ordinarily too low for the species.*_

_*Not all secondary traits are documented._

Lance felt slightly overwhelmed. He could… learn to do this? He flexed his hand, and subconsciously focused on gathering water from the air. When nothing happened, he lowered his hand, feeling slightly foolish.

Once Lance had finished skimming through that book, he went through others. After putting aside another Altean fiction book and a scientific study about planetary ecology in relation to quintessence types (surprise: an ocean planet produces mostly blue quintessence types, a desert planet produces mostly yellow and black, forest planets produce mostly green, etc.), Lance found a book dedicated to description of secondary quintessence traits: _Compendium of Quintessence Traits._

Although Lance was most interested in his own type, the rest of the secondary traits were also interesting to know. For instance, as well as heightened mental acuity, green quintessence types were able to tap into an ecosystem itself, which guided them and helped them in various ways. Lance assumed that was how Alrys had been able to so easily reach the wind shrine.

Red quintessence types could heighten their senses and reflexes, although it was uncertain if their improved reflexes were a result of their additional senses, or whether they could use their quintessence as a sort of sixth sense. Opposite to blue-types, they could also be immune to overheating temperatures.

Yellow quintessence types could develop passive quintessence shields, and unnaturally strong muscles. Apparently, in rare cases, they could also tether their spirits into the ground itself, granting them near invulnerability and the ability to “sense” things in a vast radius around them, through the earth. Lance whistled as he imagined Hunk being able to do that. It was an impressive image.

Black types could lend their own quintessence to other types, allowing them to manipulate quintessence to a far greater extent than they would otherwise be able to. They were also known to be able to generate passive emotional auras; just with their presence, they could inspire happiness, calm, fear, or love in those around them. Lance frowned. That was… morally dubious. Although, he supposed any quintessence trait could be used for good or ill.

Lance’s interest perked up when he reached blue-type traits. Blue quintessence was known for two seemingly paradoxical things: its flexibility, and its consistency. Lance thought back to the beach at Cuba. The ocean, ever changing, ever moving, but always present. Perhaps it wasn’t hard to understand. He knew he was probably oversimplifying things, but the analogy worked.

_Blue quintessence types’ most common secondary trait is the ability to see and manipulate the quintessence of those around them._

Lance frowned. Manipulate quintessence? Couldn’t all the types do that? He continued to read.

_By “manipulate,” it is meant that blue-types can tamper directly with the quintessence of others, using their own. Historically, blue-types have been known to use this ability to wildly variant ends, some noble, some unnatural. Varist, a tyrannical Jakrim ruler, was able to drain the quintessence of others, to strengthen his own life-force, and was thought to be immortal and invulnerable, until the Savior of Jakrim (another blue-type) turned his own quintessence against him, ending his reign of terror._

Lance raised an eyebrow. That was… quite the talent.

_In a similar manner, blue-types are able to restore quintessence, and cleanse it. It is theorized that they could corrupt it as well, though there are no documented cases of blue-types having that ability._

Restoration, like the ritual on the Balmera? That could be useful, although Lance didn’t know where. Corrupted quintessence… Lance thought back to the strands that had choked down Kyrick. Could he learn to cleanse that? That would definitely be a major advantage against Haggar and the druids.

Once he finished that book, he looked through the pile he’d gathered for another. He paused at one title: _Quintessence Theory: Corruption._ It looked old. Well… older than usual. Although all the books in the library were ten-thousand years old, the castle had kept them in stasis with the rest of the the ship (and Allura and Coran), so this book was clearly older than most.

Lance opened it up and began to read.

_All life is home to life-force; or, quintessence. Quintessence abounds in every corner of the universe, and it gives worlds life, and culture, and vibrant, growing, changing beauty. And yet, there is an underside to the beauty, and power, of quintessence; it is known as Corruption. What would happen to vessels of quintessence if their same quintessence became twisted and tainted? Would they die, no longer able to sustain themselves? Would they twist into shadows of themselves, mirroring the transformation of their quintessence? Little is known about Corruption, but that it exists is irrefutable. The goal of this book is to compile what little knowledge we have about corrupted quintessence, to shed light on a dark subject that is largely ignored in the academic world._

_Well, that was a grim segment of an introduction,_ Lance thought. He continued to read, but ended up disappointed. The book seemed to be made up of mostly dramatic tales and unsupported theories, and held little practical, measurable information. What he could gather was this; corruption was some sort of condition, like a sickness, that gradually transformed quintessence, and the creature that held it, into something entirely different and more unstable. How one contracted the condition was unknown.

Lance put the book back in the pile, and checked his timepiece. Late morning, about 10:30. He stretched and stood up. He’d learned a lot, and he needed a change of scenery. After putting all the books back on their respective shelves, and putting the translator tile back, walked out of the library and down to the workshop, Pidge and Hunk’s tinkering room. Sure enough, when he walked in, Hunk was glaring at a disassembled galra drone head, and Pidge was sitting in a chair, wrapped in a blanket, holding a mug of coffee with a death grip.

Lance walked over to Hunk and leaned on him. “Hey, bro. Watcha working on?”

Hunk leaned back and ruffled his hair. “I’m trying to figure out how to wirelessly disable the drone hivemind alert.”

Up until recently, galra drones had been relatively easy to deal with. When they were alone, if you were quiet enough, and fast enough to get rid of the evidence, another drone patrol would never know you were there. However, in the last month of missions, every once in a while, the team would take out a drone, and immediately every drone in the facility would be alerted to the exact position of the destroyed drone. Although it was rare, it was still dangerous, and at the least, extremely irritating.

Still, if anyone could figure out how to do that without hacking directly into the mainframe, it would be Hunk. “I take it things aren’t going too well.”

Hunk frowned. “No, they’re not.”

“I suppose Pidge is here for moral support, then?”

Hunk laughed. Pidge made a weak hissing noise and took a sip from her coffee mug. Lance walked around to her and started massaging her back. Although she resisted at first, she soon mellowed out and started to wake up.

“Where were you at breakfast?” Hunk asked. “It’s been a while since you were at a team meal.”

“I ended up passing out really early yesterday, and so I woke up at like 5 this morning. I decided to eat some food and take a trip to the library.”

Hunk gestured for a tool, which Lance passed to him. “Thanks. Read anything interesting?”

“Nah, just trying to study more Altean.” Hunk and Pidge knew that Lance had been trying to learn the alien language.

“Oh cool.” Hunk gestured for another tool. “Oh, I should warn you, Shiro and Allura mentioned some sort of training exercise after lunch, since it’s kind of a break day.”

Pidge made another hissing noise. “I thought break day meant a day on which we get a break,” she said groggily.

Lance laughed. “Rest is for the weak and the mentally stable.”

He stayed in the workshop for a while, chatting with Pidge and helping out Hunk. Once Pidge had fully woken up, she worked on her laptop, writing codes to help infiltration missions. Lance felt a glow of pride. She really was incredible. Although a lot of Hunk’s mechanical genius flew over Lance’s head, he was still able to contribute at least somewhat helpfully to the project. They stayed there until just a few minutes before lunch.

“Well, it’s about lunchtime, and I’m hungry, so I’m gonna head down,” Lance announced. “You guys coming with?”

Pidge closed her laptop. “Food. Food is always good.”

Hunk nodded. “Yep. Just let me…” he started to put away his tools. While Pidge’s computer workspace was generally a fallout zone of spare computer parts and chips, Hunk always kept his components and tools well organized. Once he was done, they walked up to the kitchen.

* * *

 

Keith, Allura, and Shiro were already in the kitchen. Shiro was gathering materials for sandwiches. “Hey, guys. Ready for training?”

“Hit me with it, Shiro. Tell me. Don’t hold back. I am prepared to suffer,” Lance proclaimed dramatically, swinging his arms out.

Shiro gave a small sigh. “It’s just training, Lance.”

Well, that reaction took the wind out of Lance’s sails. “Uh, I was just being dramatic. I’m totally down for training.”

“Sheesh, Shiro, lighten up a little,” grumbled Pidge.

Shiro mollified a bit at that. “Right. Well, I got out the sandwich supplies, so go for it.”

“Hey, guys,” mumbled Keith, through a bite of sandwich. “Remember when Allura and Coran didn’t know what a sandwich was?”

Allura frowned. “Must we bring this up every time we have sandwiches?”

Lance laughed. “It was pretty funny. Besides, we’re just trying to remind you of the wonderful, transformative knowledge we brought into your life.”

Allura paused, then bit into a second sandwich.

Pidge finished making her sandwich, and sat down. “Honestly, I would sell my soul to find alien avocados.” In their travels, they’d found acceptable substitutes for tomatoes, lettuce, and peppers, but they had yet to find an avocado. Grain, meat, and cheese were relatively easy to get, but vegetables were more of a problem.

“If we ever find a space avocado,” Hunk put in, walking over to the sandwich bar, “that empty greenhouse room is officially taken, no questions asked.” The castle had a fully equipped greenhouse, but the majority of it was taken up by Altean plants. There were a few rooms that had been converted to agriculture rooms, but none of the team wanted to take away one of Allura and Coran’s last connections to their lost planet.

Lance finished making his sandwich and sat down at the table just as Shiro started to explain the training. “Alright, Allura and I are trying to personalize training, so that we can each individually improve. So, today is a test day. Each of us will start off on the easiest training level, which will slowly progress until you are defeated. Allura and I will observe your performance, and help you train. Understand?” Lance raised a hand. “Yes, Lance?”

“Um, doesn’t that leave Hunk and I at a disadvantage? Since both of our bayards require backup from the rest of the team to be most useful?”

Shiro nodded. “It does. And we know that. But, we do want all of you to be able to hold your own in single combat. This will allow us to tackle simpler missions in less time, since we won’t necessarily need all of us in one place.”

“Oh, cool.” Lance knew that Hunk could transform his bayard into a weighted staff, and Lance could use his dual pistols.

“We expect you, Hunk, and Pidge to perform the worst, simply because you’ve always played support or defensive roles. And that’s totally fine! It’ll be a tougher learning curve for you three, but the payoff will be worth it, and will leave you all safer in combat. Any questions?”

After a few moments of silence, Allura spoke. “The training session will commence in two vargas. Until then, you may do as you like.”

With that, the conversation continued around the table for a while, until they had finished their meals. Allura and Shiro were the first ones to leave. Keith decided to stay with the other paladins as they chatted.

“So, Keith, what have you been up to?” Hunk asked.

“I’ve mostly just been with Shiro. We trained together for a little while, then he left to talk to Allura. Other than that, I haven’t done much today.” He paused, then added hurriedly, “Uh, what about yourself?”

Hunk frowned. “I spent most of the day in the workshop.”

Keith’s eyebrows furrowed. “You don’t look very happy about it.”

“Yeah, I’m trying to figure out how to wirelessly disable the drone hivemind, and I haven’t been very successful yet.”

Keith looked at him in confusion. “The what?”

“The thing that causes some drones to set off all the other drones when they’re killed.”

“Ohhhh, right.” Keith turned to Lance. “Um, you weren’t at breakfast today. Were you just sleeping in?”

“Yeah, pretty much. I’m not gonna lie, the Merian mission exhausted the quiznak out of me.” Lance responded airily.

Pidge gave him a strange look, but Hunk, used to his antics, took it in stride. “When he woke up, he joined us in the workshop.”

“Oh, neat. I, uh, guess I’m going to go--” Keith stood up, but cut off as Lance interrupted him.

“Aww, _Keeeef_ , we were just going to have a Dungeon Masters tournament!” Actually, Lance had just decided that now, but Keith needed more bonding time with them. Dungeon Masters was one of the space video games that Pidge and Hunk had adapted to work on the system they’d picked up.

“Yeah, Keith, sorry, but you don’t have a choice,” Pidge said. “It’s very important.”

“Some things are simply too important to be ignored,” Hunk added sagely.

Keith had turned slightly red. “Oh. Well, uh, in that case, um, sure,” he stuttered.

“I call him on my team,” Pidge said.

“Oh, come on! I wanted him on my team!” Lance pouted.

“Keith needs gentle guidance and a positive presence, therefore he should be on my team,” Hunk chimed in.

Lance stood up dramatically. “So, Keith and Hunk vs. me and Pidge?”

Pidge stood up, a crazy grin on her face, eyes dangerously bright. “Well, I’m ready.”

They headed up to the lounge, and for the next hour and a half, commenced their tournament. At first, Keith was pretty bad, but Lance and Pidge went easy until he could hold his own decently well. Hunk was the best at Dungeon Masters, but teamed with Keith, they were evenly matched. By the end, Keith was smiling, laughing, and joking right along with them.


	7. Memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! Beauty and the Beast is over! And it went really well (I think). Anyways, I'm happy (and sad) that I have free time again, so here's another chapter.  
> While looking over, I realized that I'd completely forgotten to give the last two chapters actual names, so I have done that.  
> Thanks for all the encouragement, and kudos, it's all really... well... encouraging. But yeah! It means a lot.  
> Hope you enjoy!

After getting on their paladin armor, they headed up to the training room. Keith was in the middle of telling them how he’d gotten expelled from the Garrison. “…so I ended up getting really angry, since Iverson was being such an ass, so I just… kind of… punched, him?”

“Keith you  _ what _ ,” said Hunk, his hand over his face.

Pidge could barely speak through her laughter. “You… you… oh my god you just!… Keith, you… that’s the best quiznacking…!”

“Keith, you absolute legend! How have we never heard this story?” said Lance, smiling widely. 

Keith’s face was totally deadpan as he spoke. “Yeah, when they called me in to give me the official news, he had an eyepatch on. I felt a little bad, honestly.”

“Ohmygod Keith,” cackled Pidge. “Eyepatch…” 

Their conversation ceased as they walked into the observation room, where Shiro, Allura, and Coran were waiting. Allura started the talk.

“Well, you all look to be in high spirits! I hope you’re all ready to go. Any volunteers?” When there was no response, she continued. “Alright, Keith, do you mind going?” Keith shook his head. “Wonderful. When you’re in the training room, just signal up to us, and we’ll start the program.”

Keith nodded, and turned around to leave for the training room as Hunk spoke. “Good luck, Keith! You’ve got this!” Keith turned and smiled at him before the doors hissed shut.

Once Keith was in the training room, he waved up at Shiro, who set a timer. “The program is started! Survive as long as you can!”

At first, a single gladiator dropped down from the ceiling. It had relatively simplistic attack patterns, and Keith easily dispatched it. Time ticked on, and more gladiators dropped, and their attack patterns advanced. As Keith fought through them, one after the other, Shiro commented on his fighting style. “See how he’s not afraid to go after them? Keith is especially good at fighting thoughtlessly. He has the muscle memory, and the instincts, to make risky moves pay off. Those muscle memories are something we want you all to develop, because a single moment of indecision is enough for an opponent to get an advantage.”

Lance frowned. Keith’s ferocity was useful in fights, and he did have excellent battle instincts. Was it all just trainable muscle memory? Could Lance and the others really get to that level, or did Keith have some unique advantage?

As the program progressed, Keith began to talk more hits as his risky moves were better countered by the bots. Finally, at eleven minutes, a gladiator scored a fatal hit, and Keith fell through the floor. 

Shiro turned to the rest of the team. “Eleven minutes. Don’t feel pressure to beat that time, but now you know what to expect. Any volunteers?”

Hunk stood up. “I might as well.”

“Excellent. Good luck! Try to remember what I said about Keith’s fighting style.”

When Hunk was in the training room, and Keith was back in the observation room, Shiro started the program again. “Program commencing!”

Hunk fought well. At first, he was easily able to turn his cannon on the single gladiators, dispatching them with cold efficiency. At around five minutes, bots started dropping around the room, forcing him to shift his bayard to the weighted staff. Lance glanced at Shiro, who was watching the training room with his brows furrowed. Did he even know Hunk could do that?

“Hunk has a lot of raw strength, and is using it to smash through the bots’ attacks, but his low mobility is slowly taking a toll,” Shiro said, gesturing at Hunk’s stance and positioning. Although Lance knew from experience how heavy the staff was (and how hard it hit), Hunk handled it expertly, smashing bots’ heads straight off, and switching to his cannon when he could. Soon, however, his low mobility got the better of him, and the gladiators managed to whittle him down. Lance glanced at the clock when Hunk fell through the floor. A little over ten minutes. Not as good as Keith, but still good.

Lance and Pidge rock-paper-scissors-ed who would go next. When Lance won, Pidge huffed and headed down. 

When she was in position, Shiro started the program again. Pidge’s fighting style was quite a show to watch; she rappelled from anything and everything, and used momentum to throw bots into each other.

“Pidge is excellent at using speed,” Shiro explained. “The bots aren’t able to pin her down, so she can take them out one at a time.” Although she used her mobility well, at around eight minutes, the bots started dropping down too fast for her to take them out, and she was overwhelmed at nine and a half minutes.

Shiro turned to Lance. “Well, looks like you’re up. Don’t worry if you don’t do as well as the rest of them; you don’t have as much battle experience as they do, and you’re used to sniping.”

Lance nodded, and headed down to the training room, adrenaline coursing through him. While he knew that logically, he would probably do poorly, he was still excited. It was a performance, after all. Once he was in the room, he looked up at his team on the observation deck. He grinned. Time to put on a show.

It started slowly, bots falling one by one. Lance’s bayard being in rifle form, it was easy to take one shot at a time before the bots could even get close to him. At the five minute mark, it got harder, with too many bots falling at a time for Lance to get away with using the rifle. A quick shift, and Lance was holding dual pistols, striding forward as he took perfect shot after perfect shot. 

As the training algorithm adapted to Lance’s fighting style, bots with shields began to drop down, and Lance was forced in closer. Twisting around gladiator staves, Lance kept his body out of the way of attacks, never once directly blocking as he returned fire with every dodge. Though he didn’t advertise it, Lance actually practiced a lot; his fighting style depended on his aim, and control of his very flexible body.

As he bent and skipped around attacks, a sudden bolt of numbness hit his left shoulder. Rolling out of combat as his arm went numb, he fired a couple of shots, but the ones from his left pistol went awry. The bots surrounded him, and Lance, his rhythm broken, fell through the floor.

He sat for a few minutes, breathing heavily, before standing up stiffly and walking up to the observation deck. As he walked in, Hunk and Pidge walked over to him and started congratulating him, and Keith didn’t talk, but he was smiling. Shiro stood up from the control panel.

“So, how’d I do?” Lance asked.

Shiro looked down at the control panel again. “You did well, Lance. Nine minutes. Congratulations.” Although his words were kind, Shiro seemed a bit put off. “Well, Allura and I need to discuss the results, so you all are free to go shower, and do what you want with the rest of the day.”

Pidge, Hunk, Keith, and Lance walked out of the observation room and down to the showers, discussing the exercise. 

“That was… more fun than I expected it to be,” Pidge commented.

“Yeah, I enjoyed it a lot,” Keith replied. “I, uh, didn’t know you and Lance could shift your bayards like that,” he said to Hunk.

“Well, I had to practice a bit to figure it out. You did amazing, though, Keith! Great job!”

Lance was proud of Keith too, but he couldn’t help the sliver of sadness that went through him. He’d held onto a slim hope that he’d outperform the other paladins, even though he knew it had been unlikely. Still, it was more important to support them. “Yeah, you did awesome, man!”

Keith ducked his head. “Uh, I was more impressed with you, actually.” Lance’s smile dropped in confusion. “The bot pattern adapted to each of our fighting styles, and the only way they could get Lance was by dropping down gunners.”

Oh. Lance thought back to the numbness in his shoulder that had thrown him off guard. That was a gladiator with a gun? “Thanks, Keith! That’s nice of you to say.” Still, Keith had been the one who’d survived eleven minutes. Lance couldn’t help but be unsatisfied.

Once they got to the showers, they split up. At one point in the castle’s history, every room in the halls had been filled by soldiers or staff, and the showers were easily big enough for only four (or five) paladins to have plenty of privacy.

Rather than meet back up with the other paladins after showering, Lance decided to go swim. He was still a little disappointed from the training exercise, and felt like being alone for a while.

* * *

 

 

Back in the pool room, Lance sat on the edge, kicking lazily. The water was always comforting, though never as much as the ocean. He watched the ripples echo out from his legs, and the light flicker in the water. The pool always brought him a sense of calm. 

He’d hoped for better in the training exercise. In fact, he’d done the worst out of all of them. He recalled Keith’s words.  _ The only way they could get Lance was by dropping gunners.  _ The algorithm had certainly reacted to him differently, but surely it would make it consistently difficult, across all styles, right? Shiro hadn’t looked too happy, either. Even though he’d apparently expected Lance to do the worst out of all of them.

Lance dipped a finger into the water of the pool, and watched the water droplets fall back to the pool, one by one. He remembered back in the Merian palace, trying to control the water from the sink. He narrowed his eyes. Dipping his finger back into the pool, he raised it up again, focusing intently on the water as it fell back down.

As per usual, nothing happened. He switched on his magic sight and looked around, then turned it off when he realized that he wouldn’t see anything, since he was the only one in the room. He thought back to the warm feeling of the water shrine. Holding onto that same energy, he dipped a finger into the water again, and focused once more on the water droplet, willing it to stay afloat.

His stomach dropped as the single droplet of water stayed, still and silent, in the air.

Lance’s heart started beating faster, and his eyes widened as he blinked. The tiny orb of water stayed in the air. He was not imagining this. As he mentally freaked out, he felt the same exhaustion that he’d had when he’d started using the magic sight creep over him. As his focus lapsed, the water droplet fell back into the pool with a  _ plink.  _

Lance stood up and stared at the pool in shock. Had he really just…? He reached down and cupped water in his hands, and held it up in front of his chest. Mentally rallying himself, he focused on the water in his hands. 

Shockingly, the water slowly float upwards in front of his face. Suddenly, his vision went dark and his legs buckled. The water fell back into the pool with a splash, and Lance barely managed to stop himself from falling over.  _ Okay, note to self:  _ Lance thought as he sat down.  _ This takes a lot of energy.  _ He assumed it would get easier, just like the magic sight, as long as he practiced.

As the shock fully set in, Lance stared down at the pool. He… needed to talk to someone about this. His thoughts immediately jumped to Blue, and he walked out of the pool room, heart and mind racing.

* * *

 

 

As soon as he walked into the hangar, Blue’s concern flooded over him. She could sense his frantic thoughts. Lance stumbled into her personal hangar, and fell onto her paw, relaying the droplet of water floating in the air. He could feel Blue’s hesitance as she struggled to respond. She was clearly proud of him, but she also knew that he was in a minor crisis. So, she listened, and enveloped his fevered mind in calmness and love. 

As Lance calmed down, Blue shared her memories of what little she knew about quintessence manipulation. Although Altea had been at the forefront of quintessential research, only a select few, such as Alfor and Honerva, had been capable of using it in Altean alchemistry. Although Blue didn’t know very much, she’d known that Alteans were capable of manipulating quintessence in ways other species weren’t capable of, regardless of awakened quintessence.

_ Can you manipulate quintessence, Blue?  _ Lance asked.

He could feel her uncertainty.  _ Quintessence is what I function off of. Perhaps my very existence is a type of quintessence manipulation. In the war _ , -- images of explosions, flashes of light, and ruined buildings flashed through their bond--  _ there were times at which, in our desperation, the lions were able to use our essence to do seemingly impossible things. When this happened, it was more instinctual than purposeful.  _ Although Blue was speaking objectively, Lance could feel a painful wall of emotions that she was keeping down. 

Subconsciously, he reached out.

Suddenly, Lance felt a shift in reality. Unfamiliar sensations bombarded him. His body felt different. He was wrapped in stinging, heavy chains. He opened his eyes, and stared down at an unfamiliar orange planet, watching as he was slowly, helplessly reeled up into the sky. His eyes were trained in desperation on a blue figure fighting below. Galra soldiers converged on him, but expertly twirling his lance, he kept them at bay, fighting with liquid elegance.

As he adjusted, he felt a bond with the stranger. Through heart wrenching pain and fear, a name floated into his mind.  _ Blaytz. _ Through their bond, he could feel Blaytz’s razor-sharp focus as he fought through the endless waves. Suddenly, the galra forces surrounding him backed off and formed a wide circle around him. He looked around, assuming a defensive stance. Lance felt himself look across the battlefield, at a regal black ship approaching. His-- Blue’s?-- heart dropped as the ship landed, and a lone figure walked out. 

From Blaytz, Lance could sense righteous fury, coldness, and above all, grief. A memory of laughter, and friendship, flashed through the bond, and then frigid anger.

Zarkon dashed forward, a giant black broadsword forming in his hand. He-- Blue?-- thrashed desperately to escape, to go to her paladin, but the dark, heavy ropes bit into her, forcing her to watch as her paladin made his last stand, alone.

As Zarkon and Blaytz clashed, Blue could feel her paladin’s focus, and an undercurrent of something darker, and sadder. Zarkon viciously smashed forward, but Blaytz dodged every swing, scoring a few nicks as he scampered backwards. He tried to meet a hit dead on, blocking with his bayard, and was thrown back, skidding painfully against the rocky ground.

Blue could feel his shock at Zarkon’s unnatural strength, but he stood back up and resumed his defensive pose. Zarkon ran forward, but Blaytz planted his lance point in the ground and vaulted over him. While in mid air, he shifted his bayard into twin sabers, and slashed Zarkon’s back on his way down, then skipped out of range of the return swing.

Despite her fear, she felt a swell of pride at her paladin, refusing to acknowledge the dark thought in the back of her mind as she watched him face off against the betrayer. Suddenly, Zarkon raised an arm and pointed his hand at Blaytz.

Blue was hit with shock and confusion from her paladin as a wave of dark corruption blasted out of Zarkon’s open palm, stunning and immobilizing him. Blue could feel Blaytz desperately trying to regain control of himself as Zarkon strode forward, a contemptuous smile on his face.

As Zarkon raised his sword, Blue called out to her paladin, love, pain, fear, and desperation racing through her. Despite the cold, painful chains around her, she thrashed desperately, trying to run to her paladin. Just before the sword fell, Blaytz turned his head to look at her. A final thought flowed through their bond, accompanied by sadness and love.

_ You were the best thing to ever happen to me, Blue. I loved every minute of it, and I’ll always remember you. _

And then, the sword fell.

And then, there was silence.

Silence from the one she knew, and loved, more than any other in the universe.

He was gone.

Through the shock, a terrifying, icy expanse swelled inside her. With her rage and her grief, the storm grew, until a devastating shockwave of quintessence surged out from her. The sky darkened as the storm formed in what had been a clear sky. The chains surrounding her shattered as the very atmosphere froze. Ice covered the landscape, and giant ice shards cascaded across the land. Lifeless galra battlecruisers fell from the sky, as the blizzard blocked out the very sun. 

Zarkon raised his sword, but the apocalyptic storm swept over him, covering him, and the rest of the land, in a layer of dark ice. Only when the world was as still and lifeless as Blue felt did the coldness inside her fade, and dark, all-encompassing sorrow swept over her as she padded numbly over the frozen land.

Suddenly, Lance gasped and sat jolted upwards. He looked around, shaken; he was back in the hangar. Blue’s concern and apology swept over him, tainted by grief that even ten thousand years hadn’t swept away.

As he adjusted to being back in his own body, he felt a tear trickle down his cheek.  _ No, Blue… I’m glad I know. Thank you. _

They sat there for a while, taking comfort from each other’s presence. Sometimes, that was all one could do.


	8. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, folks! Let me tell you some Garbage: wisdom teeth  
> I got mine out yesterday and I'm handling it just about as well as you'd expect. But on the bright side, I didn't accidentally out myself to my parents while I was high from the surgery!!! Thank the lord for small blessings.   
> Anyways, onward to more important things.  
> It happened. I got called out on my terrible title of this fic. Okay, I say "called out" but actually the person was very nice about it. So I pose the question to you all: do you guys think I should change the title of the fic? And if so, what should I change it to? (in case it wasn't blaringly obvious, I'm less than talented at coming up with titles)  
> Second thing: this chapter is very short. The next one will be SIGNIFICANTLY longer, I think.   
> Last thing: You all have been so supportive of me, and this, and it's really incredibly kind and encouraging. So, thanks for that.  
> Hope you all enjoy!

Lance awoke gently, and sat up. His body was sore. Looking around, he remembered where he was. He guessed he’d fallen asleep in the hangar. Images, senses, and sounds flowed relaxingly through his bond with blue, most of them unfamiliar. He smiled and looked up at Blue, curled up and lying down against a wall. She was dreaming. They’d fallen asleep like this before, but feeling her dreams never failed to make him smile.

Moving and thinking softly, so as not to wake her, Lance stood and walked out of Blue’s personal hangar. The castle lights were dimmed; it must have been late at night. At one point, the darkened halls had been spooky, but Lance knew them well enough by now that they were more calming to wander through.

Lance’s stomach felt empty, and he realized he’d missed dinner. He made his way silently through the empty castle up to the kitchen. Then, he stopped suddenly as he heard a noise in the halls ahead. Unconsciously, his pulse quickened as he continued walking slowly down the hall, the noise getting ever slightly louder. He turned a corner, and almost startled at a dark shape curled up against a wall. He looked closer.

“Shiro?”

The only response Lance got was labored breathing. His eyes widened as he realized what this was. Shiro was having a flashback. Lance knew Shiro had PTSD-- everyone on the team did. But that fact remained largely hidden, and almost forgotten, with nothing to remind him. With a pang of guilt, Lance realized that Shiro probably hid most of his symptoms from the rest of them.

Lance cautiously walked closer. He didn’t really know how to help, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to leave Shiro alone to suffer. “Shiro, it’s me, Lance,” he said, keeping his voice calm.

No reaction. Lance sidled closer, until he was leaning against the wall across from Shiro. Lance could see sweat on Shiro’s brow, and panicked, wild distance in his wide-open eyes as his chest heaved.

“Hey. It’s alright. You’re in the castle ship. You’re safe.” Was it his imagination, or was there a hint of recognition in his eyes? For lack of a better idea, Lance continued to talk him through in a soft, soothing voice. “Don’t worry. You’re okay. Try to focus on my voice, okay?” He continued like that for a while, and Shiro’s breathing gradually evened out. “You got this, Shiro. It’s just Lance. Focus on my voice. You’re in the castle ship. You’re safe.”

Eventually, finally, the tension in Shiro’s posture released, and he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. Lance, unsure of what to say, stayed silent.

“Wh…” the sound that came out of Shiro’s mouth was barely audible, and he cleared his voice. “What are you… still doing up?” he asked weakly.

“I, uh, fell asleep in Blue’s hangar. I just woke up a little while ago, and was going to grab some food before I went to bed.”

Shiro nodded. “You… weren’t at dinner. Again.”

“Um, my sleep schedule’s been a little whack since Merian. Sorry.”

Shiro slowly opened his eyes and looked at him. “I… didn’t mean to criticize. I just worry sometimes.”

Lance’s heart warmed a little at that, but he raised his eyebrow. “ _ You _ worry about  _ me? _ ” he asked gently. “It seems like maybe I should worry more about you.”

At that, Shiro broke eye contact, staring down to the side in… was that shame? “Hey. Shiro. I know that look. Don’t even go there. This isn’t your fault. And, frankly, you’re incredibly strong to have been dealing with this all by yourself. But you shouldn’t have to go through it alone.”

Shiro was their leader; that, and the fact that he’d already been through so much, made it easy to forget that he was only a few years older than Lance himself. “You may be the team leader, but don’t forget that you can let us in.”

Shiro met Lance’s eyes again, and smiled. The smile was weak, but it looked real. “Maybe so. Thanks.”

Lance stood up slowly. “So, how about we get you into a bed, yeah?” He offered a hand, and helped Shiro stiffly stand up. They walked together down the halls to Shiro’s bedroom, where he turned away from Lance to face the door.

“Well, thanks again. You had better get your sleep, too,” Shiro said, back to his typical mature leaderly voice.

Lance narrowed his eyes. Why had his tone changed so suddenly? A thought occurred to him. “Shiro…” he said slowly. Shiro looked back over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised. “Why were  _ you _ up so late?”

“Just a nightmare,” he replied. “Well, I’d best be off… to, uh…”

He trailed off as Lance, unconvinced, held up a finger. “Hm. And, perhaps I’m going out on a limb here, but I get a vague feeling that instead of going back to sleep, you’re planning to stay awake all night, because you don’t want to fall asleep again. Would that, in fact, be the case?”

Shiro blinked and glanced off to the side.

A wave of sadness swept through him. Putting a hand on Shiro’s shoulder, Lance turned him around to face him when he spoke. “Shiro, I… know I don’t understand a lot about what you’re going through. But I know that everyone needs sleep. Probably you especially.”

Shiro slumped down in defeat. “It’s hard for me to get any sleep after a nightmare. Every time I’m almost there, it… I just see it again.”

Lance thought for a second, then perked up as an idea came to him. “Wait right here. I’ll be right back.” He looked to Shiro for confirmation.

Shiro nodded confusedly.

Running back to his room, Lance threw on his Altean robe-tunic thing. Next, he put on his reading glasses, and grabbed a soft, warm reading light, the Altean fiction book he’d been working through, and a translator tile. He ran back to Shiro, who was still waiting out in the hall.

He pressed the button, and the door hissed open. Without a further thought, Lance strode inside. “C’mon in, Shiro.”

Shiro followed him inside, bewilderment on his face. Lance turned on the reading light, and sat down at the desk on the other side of the room from the bed. Suddenly putting the pieces together, Shiro cocked his head and ran a hand through his hair abashedly. “Oh, Lance, I would never expect you to--”

He cut off as Lance held up a finger in his face for silence. “Nope. No choice. Remember, my sleep schedule is totally whack. I wasn’t going to be sleeping anytime soon anyways.” Lance sat down at the desk and opened his Altean book. “I’ll sit here and read, and you’ll try to get some sleep, alright?”

Shiro opened his mouth to protest again, but then paused, and just looked at Lance. “Well… alright.” He lifted up the sheets and crawled into bed. Lance stared down at his book, and then back to Shiro, who was looking at him strangely. Lance raised an eyebrow. “I… uh, didn’t know you, used reading glasses,” he said softly.

“Oh. Yeah, I have really great vision, but for some reason, I get a headache when I read without using glasses. Honestly, when Blue flew us out to the castle, I was lucky I had them along.” Lance turned back to his book.

Lance read silently, the only sound the steady flip of a page. After a long, long while, he looked back over at Shiro. His eyes were now closed, and he was breathing gently and rhythmically. He looked more relaxed than Lance had ever seen him awake. Lance smiled softly. Shiro really was a good person, and Lance was happy to be able to help him. As he watched, a yawn snuck up on him, and he checked his timepiece. A little after two. Perhaps it was time to go to his own bed.

He stood up and stretched. It was probably best to leave the reading light there, just for the sake of continuity. Silently, he returned to his own room, set his alarm, and curled up in his bed. Surprisingly, within minutes, he was fast asleep.


	9. Unease

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, folks! If you'll notice, I went and edited the work description. At least. I think I did. I haven't checked to see if it worked yet. Oh well.  
> Anyways, here's the new chapter. I think it's pretty long, but again, I have no way of checking until it's posted. It's definitely longer than the last one (obviously).  
> I had a fair amount of trouble writing this chapter, the words just didn't flow well without some work, but I think (aka desperately hope) it turned out pretty well.  
> Y'all probably don't really care, but I'm trying to volunteer at a cool and fairly prestigious theater place in Idaho, so that's neat.   
> As always, thank you all so much for the support, it's really encouraging!  
> Anyways, I hope you all enjoy!

-Next Day-

Lance awoke to the beeping of an alarm. Groaning, he turned it off and rolled out of bed. Although it sucked to wake up, he knew he needed to get his sleep schedule back to normal. After showering, he threw on his robe and made his way to the kitchen.

He walked through the door. Hunk was standing by the over, frying chunks of alien tubers, and Pidge was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in her hand, and murder in her eyes. Keith was pouring a glass of vaguely-orangey juice. Shiro, Allura, and Coran hadn’t arrived yet.

Lance walked over to Hunk. “Hashbrowns?” he asked. Hunk nodded and smiled. “Anything I can do to help? We still have some of those lizard eggs, right?” He nodded again. Lance rummaged through the fridge, and got out some eggs, which he proceeded to scramble on another stove top.

Once the tubers had fried sufficiently, Hunk added some chopped up sausage, and Lance added the eggs, working in easy harmony. At the sound of the door sliding open, Lance turned to see Allura and Coran walk in. “Hey, Keith,” Hunk asked, “can you pour everyone a glass of juice?” Keith nodded and got out more cups.

Unfortunately, none of them knew the formula of ketchup, or Hunk would have been able to create a similar substance. Salsa, luckily, was easier to figure out, and Lance put a jar that they had made out on the table while Hunk mixed up the hashbrowns and put them in a large serving bowl. In the meantime, Coran got to chopping up fruits for a fruit salad, and Allura sat down at the table and unfurled a coalition newspaper.

As Lance had learned, there were a few things in the universe that remained constant: coffee, newspapers, paper books, and the nature of sentience. Probably more, but he couldn’t remember them as he watched Allura peruse her newspaper. When they’d first started out this whole adventure, as Lance liked to call it, Allura had only been able to read the Empire papers, which had been almost comically censored. Now, since the coalition was the largest organization of planets outside the Empire, they had developed their own council, trade routes, and media, among other things. 

Just as Hunk was putting the giant bowl of steaming hashbrowns down onto the table, the door slid open again, and Shiro walked in. Lance blinked in surprise. Usually, Shiro always arrived fresh and ready for the day, clean shaven with his hair done and work clothes on. Today, Shiro’s hair was gently tussled from sleep, and stubble dusted his face. He was wearing a casual robe that looked a bit like a bathrobe, but wasn’t. His eyes were still half-closed from residual sleepiness.

Keith looked and sounded just as surprised as Lance felt. “Uh, hey Shiro. You… look like you slept well.”

Shiro blinked slowly, and smiled. “Yeah. I slept right through my alarm clock, ended up sleeping ‘til just now.”

Lance glanced at the clock, which read the equivalent of 8:30. He smiled to himself. So Shiro  _ had  _ gotten sleep. They all took their places around the table, except for Shiro, who poured himself a cup of coffee first, and dug in. These were the moment that Lance most enjoyed among the castle ship; the entire team relaxing together as they enjoyed a good breakfast. They reminded him of mornings back in Cuba, when the whole family was still half-asleep as the morning sun shone through the windows.

Of course, in space, there was no sun. And the kitchen didn’t have windows. Lance sighed quietly. Oh, well. He would have to make do. As they ate, and slowly woke up, they started to talk.

“So, Shiro, what’s on the agenda today?” asked Hunk.

“Well,” Shiro spoke through a mouthful of hashbrowns, “the next week is going to be pretty relaxing. We’ll do training as usual, and there will be a few minor missions that we’ll delegate into smaller groups, but other than that, you all will be free to do as you want.”

“Also,” Allura came in, “Shiro and I have gone over your results from yesterday, and we’ve made individual training room programs tailored to each of you. We would prefer that you all train on your own throughout the week, outside of our group sessions.”

“Allura and I are looking into our next potential mission, but we need to verify some information first,” Shiro explained. “With luck, we’ll be ready to go in a week.”

Pidge, slightly more functional with coffee in her system, spoke next. “What do you think the next mission is going to be?”

“A source on the edge of mapped space says they know the location of an ancient Altean temple,” replied Allura. “Of course, this likely means it is an ancient science station, given that no temples were built so far from Altea. The majority of Altean technology was destroyed in the war. If there is any chance of uncovering some now, it is a chance we had best take.”

“Hold on,” said Lance. “Weren’t all the Altean ruins either destroyed or looted? Why would this place be any different?”

Allura nodded. “Indeed. However, our source discovered this place recently. Being on the very edge of the map, so far from civilization, it is likely this station is intact.”

When Allura and Coran had woken up from stasis, the team had visited several Altean ruins, in hopes of understanding more of what had happened to their civilization. Unfortunately, the sites that hadn’t been lost to time had been looted of anything remotely valuable in ages past.

“In ancient times, Altea was the most advanced civilization by far,” Shiro explained. “In fact, the rest of the universe still hasn’t caught up, even now. If there’s any chance we can recover some of that lost technology, we ought to try.”

Lance nodded. The coalition, even with the many different species and planets working together, was far behind the galra technologically. Not to mention their quintessence weaponry. That reminded him of something. “Right. Speaking of technology, Pidge, how’s it going working through the files we got from the galra base?”

She frowned. “Well, it  _ would _ be an incredible source of information,” she said irritably, “if we had any idea how to synthesize galra-grade quintessence. Or use it, for that matter.” She took another sip of coffee. “All of the quintessence labs we’ve raided depend on shipments from the heart of the empire to continue their research.”

Hunk turned to Allura. “Allura, don’t balmera grow quintessence filled crystals? Could we use those?”

“Galra-grade quintessence is something entirely different from the natural quintessence that we use as energy,” Allura responded, folding her arms in front of her. “I do not know how they make it, but I believe it is refined from natural quintessence.”

Lance made a face. “Even if we could make it ourselves, would we want to? Corrupted quintessence seems pretty  _ no bueno _ to me.”

Pidge shot a look at him. “It’s just refined for further use, like oil to gasoline. Don’t go all ‘quintessential vegan’ on me. Besides, those quintessence weapons… well, most of them are still in development, but they’re… really powerful.”

Lance thought back to Merian. Was corrupted quintessence just further refined? He remembered the sickening, unnatural wrongness he’d felt when he’d grabbed Kyrick’s pendant. Even if it could be used to make powerful weapons… Lance felt like there was something they were missing. “Maybe you’re right, but I get the feeling there’s something we don’t know.”

Pidge shrugged, unconvinced. “We have a jar of it in the workshop, from one of our missions. I don’t know enough about it to do anything with it, though.” 

Lance furrowed his brow. He hadn’t known they had any of the stuff. Didn’t the quintessence books say that blue-types could cleanse quintessence? Perhaps he could figure out some way to learn more about it. 

Shiro stood up, jarring him from his thoughts. “Well, I’m going to take a shower. Thanks for the meal, Hunk, it was delicious.”

“No problem, dude.”

Once Shiro left, the rest of the team dispersed as well. Lance walked through the halls, back to his room, thinking on quintessence, corruption, and how he fit into it all.

* * *

 

 

As Shiro had predicted, the rest of the week passed uneventfully. Although Lance and the other paladins were sent on a few low-level missions by themselves (supply runs, deliveries, or scouting, all of which only required one paladin) he had the majority of time to himself. Despite planning a few movie nights, or game tournaments, and talking with Blue, Lance spent most of his time alone, either in the training room, or in the pool.

As Allura had said, the training room now had programs designed specifically to help each of them out in certain areas. Lance spent a fair amount of time training, learning how to predict and react to ranged attackers, and working it into his fighting style. Although it was immensely difficult at first, and frustrating at times, watching his time tick up was worth it.

What time he didn’t spend with the other paladins or at the training room, he spent in the pool, gradually expanding his quintessence-controlling capabilities. The first few days, he could barely control a handful of water for a few minutes without almost passing out, but over time, his sessions started to feel more like a workout than a knockout. 

Although moving water with only his quintessence was thrilling, Lance knew holding a gallon or two in the air wouldn’t be all that useful, if that was all he could do. So, while he was still only capable of controlling small amounts of water, he learned a couple low-energy tricks. With a little work, throw spheres of water somewhat reliably. While practicing, he wistfully thought back to the water-balloon fights he’d had with his siblings. If only he’d known how to do this back then. 

With a lot of practice, and a fair amount of balance, Lance found out that he could walk on the water. Although it only worked for a few seconds before his energy ran out, a few seconds was enough time to run across the pool, which was fun, at least.

Of course, Lance knew that in an actual fight, he would be far too focused on his bayard to do any of the things he’d learned, given that the bayard was far more useful than his fledgeling abilities. Also, having a large source of water to practice with made things much easier. Still, it felt good to have a few tricks up his sleeve.

By the end of the week, Lance was excited with his progress, and raring for some action.

* * *

 

 

-7 Days Later-

Lance awoke to his alarm, rolled out of bed, got dressed, and walked up to the kitchen for breakfast. As he neared the kitchen, the sound of steady conversation grew louder.

“… are we leaving?” asked Pidge.

“We’re warping into orbit over the planet in just a couple of vargas,” replied Allura. “We’ll leave the castle just after lunch in the black lion.”

Lance walked into the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal. “What’s the planet like?”

Shiro turned in his chair to answer. “The planet sustains life, but not much of it. Fungi, mostly, and some microbial biology. Nothing dangerous. The station itself is located in a rock desert, built into the formations.”

“Coran and I will also be coming along, since we know the most about Altean technology, and what to look for,” Allura continued. “The castle will remain in orbit above us.”

Lance sat down with his cereal as Hunk spoke. “So, is there anything dangerous to look out for?”

Shiro shook his head. “Although the atmosphere is unbreathable, it isn’t downright toxic, and there aren’t any geological threats. This ought to be a very simple mission.”

The conversation digressed casually as the team continued eating. Once they finished eating, they all dispersed to work on various projects. As Lance started to walk out of the kitchen, someone called his name. “Lance?”

He turned to see Shiro leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest, looking at him. “Oh, hey Shiro. What’s up?”

Shiro opened his mouth, and then paused before speaking. “Are… you doing alright?”

Lance furrowed his brows in confusion. Had he been giving off the impression that he  _ wasn’t _ doing alright? “Yep, I’m doing just fine. Uh, is there a reason you ask?”

Shiro continued to look at him. “It just seems like you haven’t been around much lately.”

Oh. Well, between training, and other training, and learning Altean, Lance guessed he had been alone more than usual. “Oh. Sorry about that. I guess I’ve… been busier than I realized. I’ll make more of an effort to be around.”

Shiro raised his hands in protest. “I’m not upset. I just… wanted to check.” He stood up straight, and uncrossed his arms. “Well, if that's all, I’d better talk with Allura before the mission. See you at lunch, then.” With that, he turned and walked out of sight down the hallway.

Well, that was strange. Lance had missed a few meals here and there, due to training, but he’d figured no one would care. He sighed. He knew it was irrational, but it really did seem like he couldn’t do anything to Shiro and Allura’s standards sometimes. He supposed he just… needed to do better. Again.

Lance walked back to his room, and spent the rest of the morning reading his Altean fiction book. Since they were going on a mission, he figured he’d lay off the training, at least until they got back. Who knew, Allura might need him to do some heavy lifting. Wrapped up in his book, he almost forgot about lunch. After hurriedly marking his book and putting on his paladin armor, he walked back up to the kitchen, where the team was just finishing their sandwiches. 

“Lance,” Allura said, somewhat snippishly. “Good of you to join us.”

“Sandwich supplies are on the counter, my boy,” Coran pointed.

“Can you make one for the trip?” Shiro asked.

Lance nodded and hastily set to making his sandwich, and afterwards walked down to the hangar with the rest of his team. After they’d all piled into the black lion, Shiro piloted them out of the hangar. Once they were out of the castle’s shields, he turned around to face them.

“Alright, Allura, Coran, is there anything you’d like to say before we arrive at the site?”

Coran shook his head. “An outpost this far from Altea would likely be smaller than a Gheezian ballroom. Sleeping quarters and a kitchen.”

Allura nodded. “Truthfully, one paladin would have sufficed, but it will no doubt be educational. The best case scenario is that we find Altean military technology, but that is unlikely. Hunk, Pidge, Keith, Shiro, Coran, and I will search the station, while Lance keeps lookout.” 

Lance finished the last bite of his sandwich, and looked at her questioningly. “This far out of the way, do you really think we need a lookout?”

“I understand it is very unlikely that anything should arise, but it never hurts to be cautious.” She looked at him. “Also, it never hurts to get more practice.

Lance couldn’t help but be unsatisfied, but he didn’t argue. As they entered the atmosphere, he looked down at the landscape. A flat, cracked red-orange rock plain stretched out for miles, interrupted by plateaus and other rock formations. As they neared a particularly large rock formation, Lance could see a spot of metallic white at its base. 

Lance stood up and put on his helmet as they touched down near the white patch, which he could now see was a sealed bay door. As they walked out of the lion, Lance examined the planet. The door, although weathered, wasn’t in terrible shape. He held up an armored hand. No wind to speak of, which would explain why the door wasn’t long buried in ten-thousand years of sand and dust. 

“Lucky that we can still see the door,” Lance said through the comms. “You’d think it would have been covered in sand long ago.”

“Not much changes on this planet,” Coran explained. He was wearing a standard Altean armor suit, mostly white and blue. Unlike the paladin armor, it was more of a suit than actual armor, and there was an orb of clear material around his head, which didn’t inhibit his vision, but also didn’t protect his head nearly as well. The paladin helmets, due to Altean technology, used some sort of screen, or projection, or one-way light transfer, to allow the paladins to see in their full range of vision, and also offered more protection. “It is lucky indeed.”

A small, barely noticeable current of discomfort brushed through Lance looked around at the flat, dry plains. “So, uh, princess, do you want me to just stand next to Black, or… climb the rock, or what?”

“Standing outside the door would be preferable.”

Lance gave a silent sigh. He’d been kind of excited to see the Altean station. He walked towards the metallic door with the rest of them. It was much larger than it appeared from a distance; probably about half as tall as the black lion. Allura stepped forward, and put a hand on it. Nothing happened.

“It’s probably been way too long since it had power,” Pidge said over the comms, as she walked over to a scanner on the far right of the door. She brushed off a bit of space dust. “Hey, Allura, over here?”

Allura walked over and examined the scanner, before placing her hand on it. Once again, nothing happened. “Strange,” her voice said. “Altean stations were designed to run off of self-sustaining energy. I would think this would be the same.”

Hunk’s voice sounded next. “I mean, it has been ten-thousand years. ‘Self-sustaining’ has to have a limit at some point, right?”

Coran walked over to the scanner as well. “Altean power grids are designed to last indefinitely. The castle, for instance, kept us alive and in stasis for just that long.”

“Maybe we can just drill through it?” Keith asked. 

Suddenly, a strange hum went through the door, and they all jumped back. The scanner flickered to life. There was a pause in the conversation, and Lance felt a flicker of unease.

“Ah. It must have had a stasis program, much like the castle. When it sensed life outside, it powered up the rest of the systems,” Allura said, and placed her hand on the scanner.

With a rumble, the door slowly slid open, and sunlight streamed in, illuminating dust-covered boxes in a large hangar. 

“Uh, Allura, didn’t you say this was a small science station?” Lance asked as he looked around. “This seems like more than just a small science station.”

“Yes, it certainly is.” The rest of the team walked inside the hangar curiously. “This would appear to be a supply dropping zone, for production or perhaps research facilities.” Her voice took on a note of excitement. “This is excellent news. So far out from Altea, I never expected to come across something like this.”

Lance knew he should be excited, but for some reason, he wasn’t feeling it. “So, am I still on lookout duty, or do you want us to split up into parties to search the place?”

“I have already made it clear I want you to keep watch.” Allura gestured to the rest of the team, and they walked towards a smaller door inside the hangar, which opened at her touch. Lance couldn’t see into the room, but it looked dark. The rest of the team disappeared inside it, leaving Lance alone outside, in the sun.

Though he couldn’t see them, the team’s voices still sounded over the comms. “This is the lobby; production facilities wouldn’t have one of these, so this must be an Altean research facility,” Allura conjectured.

“Wow,” Pidge said. “Can you tell what sort of thing this place researched?”

“There are three doors,” Keith interjected, before Allura could respond. “Are we splitting into teams to search the place?”

There was silence for a while, then Shiro spoke. “There aren’t any maps behind the counter. I don’t see any on the walls.”

“Then we shall split up,” Allura declared. “Hunk and Pidge, you go through the left door. Shiro, Keith, you go through the middle door. Coran and I shall go through the right.”

Lance’s eyebrows rose. “Uh, I don’t mean to criticize, but doesn’t splitting up seem like a bad idea?”

“Lance, I appreciate the concern--,” Allura said in a tone of voice that directly contradicted her statement, “--but in this situation, Coran and I are far more capable of judging what is a bad idea than you are. By splitting up, we’ll be able to cover more of the lab far sooner than we would all together.”

There was a silence before Shiro spoke. “Alright, team. Let’s separate our voice channels. Lance, if something happens, contact me or Allura.” And then, silence.

Lance walked outside, leaned against the giant stone wall, and stared out across the red rock landscape. Something was vaguely bothering him, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind and focus on… well, what was he supposed to be focusing on anyways? Why was he even here? Both he and Allura knew full well that there was no chance of anyone catching them here, so far away from galra space. Maybe if she didn't think he was such a  _screwup--_

Lance shook his head. That was a dangerous path to go down. He looked at all the various rock formations, silencing his brain and focusing fully on the outcroppings of red stone. The strange feeling was still barely there, at the edge of his mind. Irritated, he focused in on it. Lance’s mind was always moving in a lot of different directions, but he did have  _ some  _ amount of control over his thoughts. But no matter how hard he tried, the tiny, nagging whisper wouldn’t go away.

It had to be annoyance, right? Or general irritation? He was in kind of a bad mood. He frowned, puzzled. This was actually really annoying. The feeling seemed uncontrollable, as if it were more a sense than a mood.

Lance snorted. He was so bored he was hyper-conjecturing on a feeling. His smirked sardonically, but his thoughts soon faded to bleak sadness. And yet, the feeling remained.

Wait.

Lance stood up and walked into the hangar. Was it his imagination, or was the feeling barely stronger in here? He walked back out to the black lion, which was probably half a mile away. Sure enough, by the time he reached it, the feeling was entirely gone.

An uncomfortable coldness was growing in Lance’s stomach. Apprehensively, he walked back into the hangar. The feeling was back. He turned on his quintessence vision.  _ Mierda.  _ Traces of purple essence snaked through the walls. Corruption. 

A million questions raced through his mind. What had happened here? Was it worse inside? What could ambient corruption do? Was the rest of the team in danger? Hesitantly, he walked through the door into the lobby. The room was dark, and clearly unpowered, but there were still traces of corruption around the room. 

Hadn’t Coran said that the station must have been in stasis, but had reactivated when it sensed life forms outside? If that were the case, why wasn’t the rest of the station also powered up? The only thing that had turned on… was the door. The icy feeling in Lance’s stomach grew more intense, and he turned on his comms to Hunk and Pidge’s channel. 

“Hunk, Pidge, come in,” Lance said as he walked back out into the sun. Being in the dark lab was doing things to his psyche.

Relief flooded through him as Pidge answered. “Lance? Didn’t Shiro tell you to contact him or Allura if something went wrong?”

“Guys, this is important. How deep are you in the lab?”

“Uh, not too far. We’re probably five rooms in. Why?”

Lance thought hard. What was the best way to do this? “Okay, can you make your way back to the lobby right now?”

“Wh--,” Pidge started, then paused. “Okay, you’re kinda weirding me out. What’s going on?”

“I… can’t tell you, exactly. But something isn’t right here. I know that for certain. I think you might be in danger, and I want to go with you, just in case.” He looked around at the tiny streaks of corruption around the hangar.

Hunk’s voice sounded next. “Uh, didn’t Allura tell you specifically that she wanted you out here? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have you in here, but Allura’s pretty scary.”

“Of course I know that, Hunk. Look, I’m being serious. The reason I contacted you guys instead of Allura or Shiro is because I know they wouldn’t take me seriously. Will you please get back here?”

There was hesitation before Pidge answered. “…Yeah. Okay, we’re on our way back.” 

In a few minutes, lights flashed around the corner, and Hunk and Pidge came out into the hangar, using their bayards as flashlights.

“Lance, are you okay? What’s going on?” Hunk asked confusedly. 

Lance opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated as he formed his thoughts. “I… I can’t tell you. Or at least, not completely. Here goes. This place is way out away from Altea, right? But it’s a full-fledged research lab. Why would it be so far out, unless the Altean government didn’t want the people to know about it?”

Pidge cocked her head skeptically, but Lance continued. “Also; you heard Coran say that the facility must have been in stasis, until it sensed us outside, and powered itself back up, right?” She nodded. “If that were the case, why isn’t the entire facility operational again? Doesn’t it seem strange that the only things that are working are the door?”

Pidge furrowed her brow. “Even so… that seems like a flimsy case to have us come back here.”

“I… know it seems strange. But I know something’s wrong here. Please, just let me come with you, okay?”

“Well, okay. I mean, it’s not like I could stop you, anyways.”

Lance smiled. “Awesome. Thanks.”

As they walked into the lab together, Pidge explained what they’d seen so far. “A couple halls down is a console room, but the computers are all dead. There are a lot of rooms to the sides of the halls, but all the ones we checked seem to be for meetings or storage.”

Lance shined his bayard into the dark rooms. The floors were covered in dust, and broken chairs were scattered around. “They look pretty trashed. What happened?”

Pidge shrugged. “Honestly, it looks like this place has been raided, but everything is still here. Like someone searched through everything but didn’t actually take things.”

After going through two hallways, they entered the console room. It looked a little bit like the bridge of a battleship, with a raised platform in the center, and dead control panels circled around the room. Lance stopped short as he stared at the center console. Right next to it, a wispy cloud of quintessence swirled lazily in the air. The quintessence was natural, but it was faded, and shot through with corruption.

“Uh, Lance?” Hunk asked, shining the bayard at him. “Are you okay?”

Lance shook out of his stupor. “Yeah. Hey, guys, can you see anything… weird… over there, by the center console?”

“…no?” he replied hesitantly, shining a light around the cloud.

Lance hesitantly approached the cloud. It was slightly corrupted, but it was still mostly natural. He slowly reached out a hand…

* * *

 

 

And was suddenly overcome with a rush of sensations. When everything cleared, he found himself staring at a short Altean woman with green markings, cute features, and poofy, black hair. 

As he took everything in, he became aware of a himself speaking, his voice high and clear. “…through the comet, Honerva has been able to harness the extradimensional portal, and has tapped into a supply of quintessence that we’d never imagined.”

The room around him the same, but it took him awhile to recognize it. Unlike the dark, dusty, decrepit room he had just been in, this one was well lit, clean, and bustling with activity. The realization came to Lance suddenly; he was inside a memory.

His attention turned as the Altean woman spoke. “Yes, but Honerva had the comet, which opened the portal. Without a comet…” she trailed off, looking uncertain.

Lance could feel the person’s confidence and pride as he answered. “Indeed. However, her research on the comet, and the portal, has revealed much about the nature of the veil between realities. Although interdimensional travel is still largely theoretical, the layer between realities is ever easier to manipulate.”

The Altean woman looked skeptical. “I understand that, but we still know so little about the nature of interdimensional quintessence.”

Excitement rose in him as he spoke. “The layer between realities is a source of infinite quintessence. Clean, sustainable, limitless energy is right at our fingertips! Imagine what we could accomplish!”

The Altean woman still looked doubtful, but she nodded, and walked away, and the world swept back into darkness.

* * *

 

 

“Lance? Bud? Hey, Lance!” Hunk was snapping in his face. Lance gasped, and Hunk back. “Lance, are you okay?”

Lance blinked a couple of times and breathed in. “Uh, yeah! Yeah, I’m good. What… what just happened?”

Hunk stared at him nervously. “You just walked up to the center console, stretched out a hand in front of you, and then froze for, like, twenty seconds. It was pretty creepy, actually.”

Lance furrowed his brow as he thought over the memory. The scientist in it had been talking about a layer between dimensions, that held infinite quintessence. She had obviously been excited about the implications.

“Hey, do either of you know the name Honerva?” Lance asked. 

“What? No? Lance, what’s going on?” Pidge asked.

“I… I don’t know. But I think I’ll be able to find out. Let’s keep going.”

Pidge crossed her arms, clearly unsatisfied. “Okay, but you’ll tell us at some point, right?”

Lance hesitated, but nodded. “Yeah.” Gesturing Hunk and Pidge to follow him, he walked through another door. As they walked down the hallways, Lance looked into the abandoned rooms. Unlike the previous hallways, these rooms seemed to be designed for experiments of some kind. It might have been his imagination, but the corruption seemed to be thickening as they went deeper into the lab.

After walking through three hallways and up several staircases, Lance stopped outside an official-looking door. Reaching forward, he brushed dust off the sign.

“Council room.” He slowly pushed the door open, and gestured Hunk and Pidge to follow. Inside was a large, circular table, with a dome in the center. It looked similar to the holograph deck. Although a few chairs stood around the table, most were scattered around the room. His attention was immediately drawn to another wispy cloud of quintessence, drifting next to an empty space at the table. Another memory?

As he walked closer, he could see that this cloud was slightly more corrupted than the first. The thought unsettled him. What had happened here? He reached out a hand, and another flood of sensations rushed over him.

* * *

 

 

When the rush cleared, he was standing next to the council table, facing the same Altean woman.  _ Shyra.  _ The name drifted through his head, accompanied by a feeling of love. Clearly she meant a lot to whoever’s memories these were. Judging by the people exiting the room, a meeting had just been wrapped up. Shyra was speaking to him, brow furrowed in… uncertainty? Worry? He couldn’t tell.

“…the quintessence we’re harvesting from the portal is completely different in nature than any that we’ve documented. Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Lance gestured outward as he spoke. “What risk could there be? The layer between realities is a dimension of pure quintessence. It’s just like an oil well, but more reliable.”

“But we haven’t tested it with anything but our own power grid! Even if it can sustain the lab, we don’t know anything about it!”

“Shyra.” He reached out and put an arm on her shoulder, and smiled reassuringly. “Quintessence has long been proven to be a safe and effective power source. You’re worrying too much.”

Shyra’s mouth set in a line, but her eyebrows relaxed slightly. “Maybe I am. I guess we’ll just have to see.”

* * *

 

 

The memory dissolved, and Lance was back in the dark, trashed council room. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he whirled around, heart racing. He found himself staring into Hunk’s worried face, Pidge right behind him.

“Lance! Buddy, what the hell?”

Lance blinked. “Right! Sorry. I’m fine.”

Hunk looked very unconvinced. “Lance, you know I love you. But I think you owe us an explanation. This is the second time you’ve done this. I’m worried about you.”

A million thoughts rushed through his head as he tried to think up a way to answer. “Okay,” he breathed in. “Okay. I’ll tell you what I know so far. This lab had something to do with quintessence research. I think they managed to open a portal to… like, a layer between dimensions. However that works. They harvested quintessence from it.”

Pidge stepped forward, her arms crossed. “How do you know that!?”

Lance took a deep breath in. “It just… it makes sense. Just… please trust me.”

“Lance, this isn’t funny! Just tell us what’s going on!” Pidge yelled.

Lance raised his arms defensively. “I’m not trying to joke! This is serious! I just want to be sure I’m right before I explain everything!”

Pidge turned her head to face away from him, her body posture tense. Hunk was still looking at him worriedly. “Let’s just, let’s just keep going,” Pidge muttered.

A silent rush of relief went through Lance at the change of conversation, and he walked towards the door on the other side of the council room. He opened the door, and they continued deeper into the lab. As they walked down the dark, empty hallways, Lance could no longer mistake it: the corruption was definitely thickening the farther in they went. 

As Lance turned a corner, he stopped short as he saw another cloud of quintessence, this one clearly tainted. He frowned.

“Lance?” Pidge asked. “Why did you stop?” her voice was tense. 

Lance walked forward. “Sorry, I just thought I saw something.” He walked into the cloud, and let the memory wash over him.

* * *

 

 

He was walking quickly, with Shyra at his heels, pestering him. A thin veil of annoyance covered him. He didn’t have time for this.

“…proves that there is more to it than we think!”

“Look, Shyra, I understand your concerns, but--”

“Clearly, you don’t!” A hand on his shoulder stopped him, and he turned around to face her. “Jayla! Listen to me, please.” She stared up at him, clearly worried. “We thought that the layer was just like a well, but for quintessence. But that thing that came through proves we were wrong. We know frighteningly little about the layer! Who knows what else could be in there? We don’t even know the nature of the quintessence we harvest from it! We still haven’t run biological tests, we still don’t know how it could affect us, we know little to nothing except that it can power the lab!”

His annoyance surged as he answered her. “The ‘thing’ is just a ball of tightly concentrated non-linear quintessence, and we haven’t proven it’s anything remarkable. Quintessence… is… quintessence. It powers our entire civilization. Just because you’re afraid of something you can’t understand doesn’t mean I have to be, too.”

Shyra looked like she’d been slapped. “What’s wrong with you!?” she said angrily. “You’ve been moody and irrational for the past month, and you’re skating safety precautions all over the place! I know that this is an amazing breakthrough, but you’re being impossible!”

A wave of anger clouded his vision. “I don’t have time to deal with you right now. I am your superior. I decide what is best for this facility. Whatever paranoias you’ve come up with, spout them at someone else.” With that, he turned and walked through the door, leaving Shyra, hurt and confused, standing in the hallway.

* * *

 

 

The memory washed away, and Lance was back in the darkness with Hunk and Pidge, who were staring at him expectantly.

“Are we going to keep going?” Hunk asked hesitantly.

Lance nodded. “Yep. Just trying to remember our route, so that I can judge how big the lab is,” he lied, not wanting to attract more attention. As they continued down the dark hallways, Lance thought over the memory. Apparently, a ‘thing’ had come through the portal, and Shyra had been worried about there being more to the ‘layer’ than they’d thought. Jayla, the head scientist whose memory it was, had gotten uncharacteristically angry, and then lashed out at Shyra for suggesting they test the portal further.

A grim theory had started to form subconsciously in Lance’s mind. He continued to walk down the hallways, Hunk and Pidge behind him. As he walked through a door to another hallway, he stopped as movement caught his eye. Heart pounding, he looked towards the movement, but saw only a wall. Wait… a faint quintessence aura was making its way down the hall. He gestured for Hunk and Pidge to stop. “There’s something moving ahead.”

Adrenaline flowing through him, Lance strained his magic sight to see more of the quintessence. Was it corrupted? Or was that just the ambient corruption around him? Was that… red? As the quintessence signature rounded the corner, Lance shined his bayard on the red paladin armor of Keith. A wave of relief rushed through him as Keith walked towards them from the end of the hall.

Wait. Where was Shiro? And why wasn’t Keith’s bayard light on?

Lance’s blood froze as he watched. Keith’s quintessence signature wasn’t all red, like it usually was. A shell of corruption covered it. Lance stared harder. Was it… a second quintessence signature overtop of Keith’s? “Hunk, Pidge, stay back. Something’s off here.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Hunk asked. Pidge remained silent.

“Just… let me try to contact Keith, first.”

He switched to a private channel with Keith. “Hey, Keith? Buddy?”

No response. 

“Keith!” Anxiety curled in him as he watched Keith walk towards them. “Come in! Now!”

Still, nothing. Keith kept on walking.

As Keith got nearer, Lance observed his quintessence more closely. Sure enough, a second, corrupted quintessence signature covered Keith’s own.  _ Blue-types can see and manipulate the quintessence around them. _ The line from the book echoed in his mind. Heart racing, Lance held out a hand towards Keith and focused his quintessence.

Then, he pushed with all his might at the corrupted shell around Keith. Keith stopped moving and held up a hand, as if to ward off Lance’s shove. As the second signature started to writhe, Lance felt it through his quintessence. A torrent of fear, hatred, and desperation barraged Lance’s mind, but he kept pushing with everything he had, until the second quintessence signature separated from Keith’s.

Keith, in the middle of the hallway, collapsed. Behind him, an ethereal form made of quintessence fled down the hallway. Reaching out with his mind, Lance grabbed at the form, latching on to it and preventing it from escaping. He could feel the exhaustion creeping up on him, but he couldn’t give up, not yet. Images and memories broke free as he held on, flashes of the creature’s essence in his mind. A shock went through him, and he dropped his focus.

It was Jayla, the head scientist whose memories were scattered around the lab. She was somehow still alive. Or, at least, she was a corrupted quintessence ghost. Lance ran over and crouched down next to Keith, whose quintessence aura was now pure red. “Hey? Keith? Buddy?”

Slowly, Keith stirred and opened his eyes. “…huh? Wha… Lance? Why’re you… in here?” 

Hunk and Pidge walked cautiously over as Lance responded. “Keith, man, this is really important. How do you feel?”

He sat up slowly. “I feel… fine. Kinda tired, for some reason. How did you…” He looked around and jolted up. “What the hell!? Where am I?!”

Lance made a calming motion with his hands. “You’re with us, in a different part of the lab.”

Keith took a deep breath in, then nodded. “Oh. Okay. How… how did I get here?”

“I was hoping you could help me figure that out,” Lance said in a soothing voice, ignoring his nerves. “What’s the last thing you remember before waking up here?”

Keith looked down. “Um. Shiro and I, we split up, to cover more ground. I was walking through an empty hallway, and then… and then I was here.”

Lance’s mind raced. “Okay. Can you contact Shiro and tell him to meet up with us immediately?”

Keith blinked and nodded. Lance switched back to Hunk and Pidge’s channel. “Keith’s alright, and he’s telling Shiro to meet up with us.”

“Lance, I think it’s long past time to tell us what’s happening here.” Hunk’s voice was tinged with irritation.

Lance hesitated before responding. “I… I would tell you, but I really don’t know for sure.”

“Lance, can I talk to you in private?” Pidge’s voice was hard and tense. 

Lance sighed inwardly. “Yeah, of course.” They switched their comms to private, and Pidge led him over to the other end of the hall, facing away from Hunk and Keith. She looked up at him, tension in her eyes.

“What’s going on, Lance?”

“I… I don’t really know--”

She waved an arm at him, her fists clenched. “Bullshit! You know something! You knew that something was off, you knew what this place was for, and you knew something was wrong about Keith! I… Lance, I…” Lance’s eyes widened in surprise as he heard a tremor in her voice. “I’m kinda nervous.”

Realization flooded over Lance, and his nerves softened into shame as he pulled Pidge into a hug. “Oh, Pidge, I’m sorry.” He’d thought that she’d been angry at him for keeping information from her, when in reality she’d just been frightened. She was only fifteen, after all, and Lance had been keeping her totally in the dark. “Damnitall. No matter what, we'll be alright. We’re all fine, and Shiro is on his way. I should have realized you weren’t doing so hot. God, I’m sorry, Pidge.”

Pidge hugged back. “Can you… please tell me what’s going on?”

Lance made his decision quickly. Regardless of his own feelings, Pidge needed to know what Lance knew. “Yeah. I owe you an explanation.”

They stopped hugging, and Pidge took a step back. “Thanks, Lance,” she said quietly.

“Okay, this is a long explanation that has a lot to do with quintessence, so bear with me. Since I’m the blue paladin, I can see quintessence.”

Her eyes widened. “You can… what?”

“I can see quintessence in the area around me. I can see your green quintessence, and Hunk’s yellow quintessence, and Keith’s red quintessence. I can also see quintessence in the land around me.” Pidge blinked, then nodded. “I can also see corrupted quintessence, the type the galra use. Corrupted quintessence also just  _ feels  _ awful. When it’s around, there’s this uncomfortable feeling, like an itch below my skin.”

Pidge’s brow furrowed. “Wait… so back on Merian… you could literally  _ see  _ that the prince was being controlled?”

Lance nodded. “Yep. Anyways, when I got here, I felt vaguely uncomfortable. The feeling was so small, I brushed it off as nothing, but it didn’t go away. After a while, though, I noticed that it wasn’t like a normal uncomfortable feeling, so I checked with my quintessence sight--”

“So you can turn it off and on?” Pidge interjected.

Lance nodded again. “Yeah. I checked, and sure enough, there were traces of corrupted quintessence in the hangar room. That was when I called you and Hunk back. I figured, since I’m the only one who can see it, I should be with you just in case.”

Pidge’s eyes narrowed. “So, to clarify; corrupted quintessence, or the galra stuff,  _ feels  _ wrong and nasty to you, and that’s why you don’t think it’s a good idea to figure out how to make it, or use it.”

“Yes. Anyways, as we’ve gotten deeper into the lab, I noticed weird wisps of quintessence, like imprints or something. Remember when I stopped moving in that console room?” Pidge nodded. “That was because I reached out to touch one of the wisps, and I was suddenly seeing someone else’s memory.”

“Do you know whose memories they are?”

“Someone named Jayla. I think she was the head scientist. Do you want me to explain what happened in each one?”

Pidge nodded, and Lance described each memory to her. When he was done, she crossed her arms, brain obviously working overtime. “This is… this is incredible. So… they opened a portal to another dimension, or a layer between dimensions. Do you think it’s still open?”

Lance looked around subconsciously before answering. “The deeper we get into the lab, the thicker the corrupted quintessence gets. It’s definitely a possibility.”

Pidge looked around, then back up at him. “Okay. Okay. So, what was wrong with Keith?”

He looked down the hallway, where Hunk was talking with Keith. “I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but I’ll try. When I saw something moving down the hallway, it was actually a moving quintessence aura. That was how I saw Keith before he was technically visible. I couldn’t see his quintessence clearly until he came around the corner.” 

Pidge looked back at Keith and shivered. “There… was something weird about it, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.”

A whisper of cold went through Lance’s gut as he recalled it. “Shiro wasn’t with him, and second, his bayard wasn’t lit, even though it’s pitch black in here. That was what tipped me off. It was unsettling enough by itself, but as his quintessence got clearer, I could see that there were actually two quintessence signatures there; Keith’s red quintessence, and something else’s corrupt quintessence. The corrupt quintessence was covering Keith’s like a shell.”

“Is that like what you saw with the prince?”

“Not exactly. I’ll tell you the details later, but when Keith didn’t respond over his comms, I figured he was being controlled by the second quintessence signature.” Lance took a deep breath. “When I shined the light on him, it started wriggling around and then detached itself from him.”

Pidge nodded, hyperfocused on him.

“I… don’t know how… but the second quintessence felt like Jayla’s.”

Pidge stared. “The head scientist.” Lance nodded. “So something’s kept her alive for ten-thousand years.”

“Looks like it.” Lance glanced at Pidge. “You know, you’re taking this all pretty well. I kind of expected you not to believe me.”

Pidge frowned. “Why would I not believe you? Besides, this explains everything you’ve done so far.”

An unexpected warmth rose up in Lance’s chest. “Oh. Uh, right.” He brushed a hand behind his neck. “So… I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell the rest of the team about this.”

“I don’t know why you wouldn’t want anyone to know… but it’s your choice.” She gave him a funny look. “You know, you’re pretty strange.”

Lance laughed. “Ahh, come on, you know you love me.”

Pidge scowled, but then pulled him into another hug. “Ugh, fine. But if the creepy quintessence ghost comes back, tell me about it so we can yeet her back to whatever interdimensional hellhole she crawled out of.”

Lance grinned and held out his hand. “It’s a deal.” They turned towards Hunk and Keith, who were now watching them strangely. “Looks like Hunk and Keith are waiting for us. Shall we rejoin the main voice channel?”

Pidge sighed. “Hm, I suppose we shall.” They switched their channel and walked over. “How close is Shiro?”

A new voice crackled over the comms. “I’m making my way towards you, but this part of the lab is destroyed. It’s hard to find working doors, and several hallways are collapsed.” Pidge and Lance glanced at each other.

“We’ll wait until you get here,” Pidge said. “This place is more dangerous than it seems, so be careful.”

“Hunk told me about Keith. Do you have any idea what caused it?”

Pidge glanced at Lance. “Uh, not really. We think this lab conducted research on quintessence, so it’s probably something to do with that.”

Lance’s thoughts turned to Allura and Coran. “Hey, Shiro, can you contact Allura and Coran? We should probably figure out where they are.”

“Oh, hey Lance. I didn’t know you were in this channel. Have Pidge and Hunk updated you on the situation?”

Lance’s mind blanked. He guessed it made sense that Shiro wouldn’t know he was with them. “Uh, actually, I’m here with them. Once we figured out something was wrong with this place, they called me in to help.”

“Oh! Okay. I don’t know where they are, but I’ll contact them once I reach your location. I think I’m only a few hallways down now.”

Lance turned to Hunk. “Hunk, did you tell Keith what we know?”

Hunk’s face remained neutral, but Lance could feel the question. “I can’t tell him what I don’t know myself.”

“Uh, right. Okay. So.” Lance turned to Keith. “So basically, we think this lab conducted experiments on quintessence. Somehow, something in the lab put you to sleep after you and Shiro split up. When we saw you, you were still asleep, but you were walking around the lab.”

“I… don’t think I’ve ever sleepwalked,” said Keith, frowning.

“Which makes it pretty likely that something in this lab was able to control you.”

Keith blinked. “Oh. That’s… kinda freaky.”

Lance looked around at the dark, dusty hallways. “That seems to be the theme of this mission.”

The sound of a door hissing open drew their attention down the dark hallway. Shiro, shining his bayard light, turned the corner and waved. “Hey, guys. Everyone okay?”

They all nodded, and Lance spoke. “Keith says he’s feeling fine, and everyone else is pretty good.”

Shiro nodded, walking towards them. “Good. I’ll switch to Allura and Coran’s channel and tell them what’s going on.”

The four other paladins watched and waited as Shiro contacted the two Alteans. Lance watched as Shiro’s mouth moved. After a few seconds of silence, Shiro’s brow furrowed, and he spoke again.. That… probably wasn’t a good sign. After only about a minute, he switched back to their voice channel. “Allura and Coran aren’t coming in. There’s no interference, either.”

Pidge brought up the holographic map with her wrist device. “Their signatures still show on the map. They’re pretty deep in the lab. Everything… seems to be fine.”

Ice curled in Lance’s gut. “So I guess we’re going to get them?”

Shiro nodded. “I’ll keep trying to reach them over comms, but we’d best make our way there immediately.” He gestured the team down the hallway. “Parts of the lab I went through to get here were pretty trashed. I don’t know what condition things will be the further we go in, so be careful and stay behind me.”

As they walked, Pidge and Lance gradually fell behind the group. Feeling a tap, Lance turned his head. Pidge was looking at him, and tapping the side of her helmet. Picking up on the cue, Lance switched his comm channel. 

“Do you think they found the portal?”

“…seems like it. I don’t know what would keep them from answering their comms, but I don’t know much about… well, any of this.”

They walked down the dark hallways in silence for a few minutes, before Pidge spoke. “Uh, Lance?”

“Yeah, Pidge?”

“I, uh. I’m sometimes pretty bad at figuring people out. And… I don’t know exactly how to bring this up. I just… I really don’t mean to pry, or offend you, or… or something. But…”

The words went unsaid as she trailed off. Lance sighed. As he’d processed, he had realized that that there were a weak spots in his story. “But you need to know.” He sighed. “Yeah, I get it, Pidge. Ask away.”

“I didn’t-- I don’t--,” she stuttered. “Look, I asked because I really don’t want to be rude, or mean, or whatever! If… if you really don’t want me to ask, don’t tell me it’s fine.”

Lance paused and looked at her, slightly off-guard. “Oh. Um. Thanks, Pidge.” There was a silence for a few seconds before he continued. “You can ask. I know it’s going to bother you forever if you don’t, anyways.”

Pidge crossed her arms awkwardly. “Okay. Uh, thanks. Thinking back on it… I just, uh, realized that it seems pretty unlikely that light would cause a quintessence ghost to let Keith go. Plus, we were all shining our bayards on him for, like, ten seconds before he collapsed.”

“Sheesh.” Lance couldn’t keep a fond smile off his face. “You know, you’re totally ridiculous.”

She self-consciously looked down, but Lance could tell she was smiling.

“You’re right. I can do a little bit more than just see quintessence.”

“Okay. That’s what I, uh, figured. You don’t have to tell me any more, I was just wondering.”

A few more minutes passed in silence, but Lance could tell Pidge was forcibly holding in another question. 

“If you want to, we should set up some experiments when we get back to the castle.”

Okay, not a question, but he wasn’t far off. “Put to use that corrupted stuff from the galra?”

“If, uh, you want to. I mean, I can’t really, you know…”

“I wouldn’t mind. Besides, I’ve been wanting to learn more about quintessence myself.”

As expected, Pidge perked up, visibly excited. “Okay, awesome! Thanks!”

They continued walking for a few more minutes, until Shiro held up his hand. Lance looked past him, through a darkened door frame. Was that a… pit? Suddenly realizing he wasn’t in the main channel, he switched over to hear Shiro’s voice.

“--need to rappel down, or find another route.”

Lance peered down into the dark hole. Oh. Elevator shaft. Pidge spoke up. “My bayard should be able to get us down there.”

“How far down does it go?” asked Hunk. 

“I… think Allura and Coran aren’t far from here.” Lance turned towards Keith, who was studying the map. “Actually, they’re really close, but they’re down a few levels. This is the easiest way to get to them.” His brow furrowed. "Actually, it looks like the only way to reach them."

Lance walked over to look at the map with him. “Huh. So we’re on the… third level down? Allura and Coran are down a ways. How big is this lab?”

“It’s possible that this elevator leads to a control room,” Pidge mused. “A room built separately for experiments, apart from the rest of the lab. That would explain why it’s down so far.”

“Uhh, guys?” Lance turned as Hunk chimed in nervously. “I don’t mean to creep anyone out, but… I think the elevator is coming up?”

Lance’s heart beat faster as he walked over to the elevator shaft and shone his bayard down. Sure enough, an elevator was making its way up. They watched in silence as it slowly slid to a stop right in the door frame. As the elevator doors slid open, Shiro’s arm activated with a buzz, and Lance crouched, pointing his bayard into the darkness. He breathed a sigh of relief when the doors opened to reveal nothing.

Suddenly, as Lance stood up, a horrible, uncomfortable feeling crawled over his skin. He turned on his quintessence vision, and stepped back as his eyes were opened to the corrupted smog drifting from the elevator. An involuntary shudder ran through him.

_ Oh, god. Allura and Coran…  _ Lance’s thoughts trailed off.

“Are we… actually going in that thing?” Hunk asked.

Keith tentatively stepped in. “It… uh… feels stable?”

“We don’t have a choice. Allura and Coran are down there,” Lance said, trying to hide his urgency. He stepped into the elevator next to Keith, ignoring the corrupted quintessence soaked into the metal. “It’s fine. Let’s go.” Looking around, he spotted a control panel with one unmarked button.

Shiro stepped into the elevator, resting his arm on the wall. “I suppose it… seems stable.”

Pidge and Hunk stepped in as well, and Lance pressed the button. The doors slid closed, and the elevator jolted downwards before settling into a smooth ride down. Lance tapped his foot anxiously as he waited for the doors to open.

After a minor eternity, the elevator finally lurched to a stop, and the doors slid open. Shining his bayard, Lance looked past the other paladins into the decrepit hallway. Unlike the other hallways, this one had no side rooms, and was wider. Mushrooms jutted out from the walls, and the walls and ceilings were broken by thick fungal stalks. 

Although it was physically dark, corrupted quintessence permeated everything. It drifted stagnantly through the air, soaked into the walls and the floors. Most disturbingly, it seemed to run through the fungus itself, thick and slow as molasses. Lance wasn’t sure what exposure to corrupted quintessence could do, but he didn’t want to stay to find out. 

“Allura and Coran should be right through that door at the end of the hallway,” Shiro said, walking out into the corrupted smog, which swirled languidly around him.

Lance bit his lip. Should he tell them? How? Steeling himself, he walked out into the corruption. It felt dirty and wrong against his skin, so he turned off his quintessence sight. It didn’t help. “Let’s go find Allura and Coran, quickly.”

Following Shiro, they walked to the door at the end of the hall. “Alright, team. We don’t know what’s through this door, so keep your bayards handy.” He reached out and pressed a button on the side of the door, and it hissed open. 

Lance walked cautiously into the dark room and looked around. Corrupted fungus covered entire sections of the wall, and dirt had poured into various breaches. Scientific tables and cupboards sat in various places, some partially covered in the creeping fungus.

A large, raised platform stood in the center of the room, standing at the height of Lance’s hips. Embedded in the platform was a thick metal circle, with a diameter of maybe ten meters. Large crystals that Lance assumed were balmeran were embedded into it at regular intervals, and wires and pipes cascaded off the platform, running into the floor and ceiling.

Lance’s heart pounded as he approached it. Was this the…? Suddenly, a wash of sensations flooded over him once more.

* * *

 

 

When his senses cleared, the lights of the room were on. He looked forward at the circle, a sense of sorrow overshadowing his mind.  _ How had it come to this? _ He startled back as the lights flickered, and fear pierced through him. 

He (Jayla?) stumbled back as the crystals started to glow, and the lights flickered some more. Panic swept through her as she tried to run to the door, but froze as a gnawing emptiness awoke inside her. She turned slowly, stiff as a board, as the lights shut off entirely, the crystals glowing an ominous purple. Suddenly, harsh white light flooded the room as the portal opened, like a pool of raw energy.

Mechanically, her body walked towards the portal. Anger, guilt, and terror swept through her as her hand reached out automatically towards the swirling corruption. Suddenly, a face appeared, unbidden, in her mind. Green markings, cute features, and most definingly, a head of poofy black hair.  _ Shyra.  _ A rush of sadness and love swept through her, and with it, clarity.

Jayla’s hand stopped moving, and her eyes narrowed. Her mind rallied, and with it, her knowledge. Although she hadn’t for so long, right now, Jayla could  _ see _ . The void had corrupted her, but in its twisted way, it had taught her. And she would be damned if she didn’t go down without a fight.

The force controlling her seemed to strengthen and twist around her, forcing her down into insanity, but she kept Shyra’s face at the front of her mind as her nails bit into her palms. Harnessing all she had, Jayla focused until her very quintessence twisted and tore at itself.

Thinking back, Jayla recounted three places, and three memories, her focus razor sharp despite the terrified whispers at the edge of her mind. Body shaking with exertion, she sent three imprints out into the now empty, abandoned lab, and left a fourth where she was. _A warning._ A cold, empty  _ something _ focused itself onto her, and she grit her teeth. The void would soon be overpowering.

But she wasn’t done yet. Sending her consciousness out through the lab, she focused in on the battery in the power control room. Her mouth opened and she let out a feral snarl as the battery crumpled and cracked in on itself under the force of her quintessence. The cold, empty  _ something _ turned dark and hateful as it realized what she had done.

Jayla could feel her quintessence fade and exhaustion overtake her as the void tightened its grip. Even as her consciousness faded, she smiled softly as a tear rolled down her cheek.  _ I’m sorry.  _ Her hand reached slowly, inevitably, towards the portal.  _ No matter what, I’ll always love you.  _

Her last thought was of Shyra, and then there was nothing.

* * *

 

 

Lance came out of the memory gasping.

Shiro’s voice sounded through the comms. “Lance? What’s wrong?”

Lance took a deep breath and steadied himself. “Uh, sorry. I just almost tripped over something.” He looked down at the inactive portal, and a bolt of panic pierced him. “Shiro, where are Allura and Coran? We need to find them.”

He turned on his quintessence sight. Thick, twisting roots of corruption branched out from the portal, spreading in every direction. Lance shivered. How far did it go? Looking around, he traced the corruption as it snaked up around the walls, through the fungus. A passage from one of the quintessence books came back to him.  _ What would happen to vessels of quintessence if their same quintessence became twisted and tainted? _

He recounted the memory. To Jayla, the void had seemed less like a force of energy, and more like a willpower. Perhaps it was just her fevered mind? Lance didn’t want to consider the implications of the alternative. She had sent out the memory imprints, and then crushed the battery, shutting down the facility. Judging by the rampant corruption, the portal could clearly still open. 

Lance scanned the room for Allura and Coran’s quintessence, but the corruption was too thick to see through. Other than the five of them, the room was empty, and there were no doors other than the one they had come in through.  _ Come on, what the hell!?  _ “Shiro, can you check the map again? Where are they?”

Shiro sounded confused. “I… don’t know. They should be right in this room.”

Lance shut his eyes and rallied his energy. Sensing quintessence alone, he reached out around him, into and through the corruption around him. Was that…? A tiny pinprick of light caught his attention. He focused in on it, his heart beating faster. There were two signatures, right next to each other. Black, red, green… blue, red, yellow… 

Lance opened his eyes and turned towards it. In the back of the room, the wall was entirely covered in fungus, crawling with corruption. But past the wall… were two faded signatures.

Oh, god. Lance rushed over to the other side of the room. Allura and Coran had to be behind there, right? Not pausing to question, Lance ripped away at the corrupted fungus, stopping when he hit something hard. He looked closer, shining his bayard on it, and stared at Allura’s face through her helmet.

“Guys, I found them! They’re over here!” Lance hacked feverishly at the light, fleshy fungus, which gave way easily, until Allura’s body dropped forward. She was clearly unconscious. The rest of the paladins gathered around, and were working to free Coran.

“Their vitals are still strong, but they’re unconscious,” Shiro said, examining Allura. “Great spotting, Lance.” He looked around the room. “Be on guard. Whatever happened to them, don’t let it happen to us, too.”

“What could have knocked them out?” Pidge asked as Coran fell free.

Lance thought back to Blue’s memory. Zarkon had somehow used corrupted quintessence to stun Blaytz. “This fungus is weird. I think it’s different from the rest on the planet. My bet is the lab’s quintessence meddling did something to it.”

Shiro stood up and turned towards them. “Without Allura and Coran, we have no way of knowing what in here is valuable. Let’s head back to the castle. Tomorrow, we’ll be better prepared.”

“Uh, guys?” Hunk said nervously from the center of the room. “Does anyone know why these crystals are glowing?”

Lance’s heart picked up as he turned to face the portal. The crystals embedded in the platform, which had been dark and lifeless when he had examined them, were now pulsing faintly with white light. An icy feeling curled in his gut as he watched. “Guys, I think we should get out of here, now.”

Pidge turned towards him, a silent question in her eyes. Lance shook his head and gestured towards Coran and Allura. “Shiro, Hunk, can you grab these two? This place gives me the creeps.” While they lifted the two Alteans, Lance walked over to the door and pressed the button on the control panel.

Nothing happened. Lance’s stomach dropped as he pressed it again. The door remained closed. “Pidge, can you get over here?”

“Already here.” He stepped out of the way as Pidge examined the panel. “It… should be working.” She pressed the button for herself, and stared at the unresponsive door. “What the hell? It let us in.”

Lance turned back towards the center platform. The crystals were definitely brighter. “But it’s not letting us out.” Panic thumped through him, and he turned towards Shiro, who was carrying Allura over his shoulder. “Shiro, can you--”

His words cut off as sharp, white light flooded the room. 

The portal was open. 

A harsh wave of corrupted quintessence tore over Lance like a storm, and he raised his arms futilely against the barrage. “Shiro, use your arm! Get through the door!” 

Shiro stood stock-still, Allura still draped over his shoulder.

“Shiro!?” Still no response. Lance could feel the corruption tearing away at him like a sandstorm. Movement drew his attention, and he looked wildly around the room. The walls of fungus had come alive, and tendrils of it were reaching towards them, each strand practically dripping with corruption.

“Pidge! Hunk! Keith! Come on, guys!” Lance called out desperately. All of them were frozen in various positions around him. Shifting his bayard into his rifle, Lance shot at the portal crystals, but each shot fizzled against an unseen barrier. The tendrils of fungus were creeping ever closer, and he turned his bayard on them instead, heart pounding. For each strand he shot through, too many more were slowly, inevitably crawling forward. 

A sudden flicker of movement caught his eye, and he turned towards the source. A quintessence wisp was dancing around the room frantically, corruption soaked through its very being. Although it was barely recognizable, Lance could sense the almost imperceptible imprint of who it had been, once. Jayla was back. 

As Lance watched it frantically dart through and around the advancing fungus, a desperate thought struck him. With a burst of focus, he reached out at the wisp with his quintessence. It thrashed around wildly, but this time, Lance couldn’t give up. He grit his teeth as corruption tore away at him, whispering at the edges of his very essence. With everything he had, he pushed his quintessence through the wisp, overpowering the corruption that was soaked into it.

As he felt the last of the corruption clear, a wave of exhaustion swept over him and he dropped to his knees, eyes coming dangerously close to closing. He fought to stay awake, and saw the wisp rush towards him.

Lance gasped as an ancient, but strong, blue and green essence surrounded him. His head cleared as Jayla’s quintessence shored up his own, and he startled as a whispered thought pierced his mind.

_ Together, we stand a chance.  _ Lance felt Jayla’s focus turned to the shining crystals that ringed the portal.  _ Please, help me fix the mistake I made so long ago.  _ An image of a face appeared in Lance’s mind, dark skin, green markings, and cute, lovely features, accompanied by fiery grief and love.

In unison, they rallied their quintessence and forced it towards the crystals. Lance could feel their combined exhaustion as they pushed harder against the field of corruption surrounding the crystals.

Lance looked around at his teammates, all still frozen by the onslaught of corruption, and fierce power swelled in both of them. 

_ For those we love. _

Cold, painful exhaustion darkened Lance’s vision, but their quintessence continued to siege the portal. Suddenly Lance felt something give way, and a sharp, loud crack reverberated through the room as a fissure appeared in a single crystal.

As the power of the void wavered, Jayla and Lance plowed forward, and crystal after crystal shattered into pieces. The thrashing strands of fungus stiffened and stilled, and the harsh white light faded as the rift closed.

The last thing Lance felt before the cold finally overtook him was a deep, satisfied peace.


	10. Missing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SEASON SIX CAME OUT AND IM RUINED  
> The animations were incredible, and everything was just really well written, I'm so proud of the writers, like they must have worked so hard.   
> I must admit. I am getting... a little tired... of all the Keith. Don't get me wrong: the writers can do whatever they want, and overall, I'm just very grateful that they've put so much time and effort towards all this. Their work, of course, trumps my preference. However, as great and dynamic a character as Keith is, I do wish he wasn't quite so focused on.  
> But again. More than whatever I might want, the writers are the ones to whom the story belongs, and I'm just glad they've given us this.  
> OH and Allura is so good!! So sweet!! So kind!! Honestly, it makes me sad that I've written her the way I have. That said, what's done is done, and besides, it's not like my characterization is unrealistic. Still, I feel bad. She's so kind and strong and amazing.  
> Not going to lie, I liked what they did with Lotor. He turned out to be a terrible individual, but he still... believed that what he did was right? He was complex. He had depth. And that was cool. Plus the azula snap was really intense.  
> Anyways, to the story. First off; thank you so much for all the encouragement! I tried really hard to write suspense for that last chapter, but your own suspense can be difficult to judge since... you know... what's going to happen. So I'm really happy you liked it.  
> This chapter is shorter than the last, but I hope you all enjoy!

Coran stared at the cryopod, hand fiddling with his mustache. It had been almost a week since the Altean lab. 

He remembered waking up slowly, muscles moving stiffly, as if syrup, rather than blood, flowed through his veins. As he’d come to, he had realized that Pidge was shaking him, trying to wake him up.

He sat up slowly and looked around in the dark room. Ah-- right-- the Altean lab. He and Allura had walked into the core room. Disappointingly, most of the technology had been enveloped and twisted apart by the alien fungus, and what was salvageable was already on board the castle. He had been looking over documents from a filing cabinet when… nothing. He’d woken up on the floor, Pidge shaking him. 

Immediately, his thoughts turned to Allura. “Where’s Allura?”

Pidge pointed behind her. “Shiro is waking her up right now. Do you know what happened?”

Coran furrowed his brows as he thought. “I was looking over documents from one of those filing cabinets. That is all I remember. How did you find us?”

Pidge glanced over at something in the darkness. “Uh, it’s kind of a long story. Basically, we figured out something was off about the lab, and then we tried to hail you, but you weren’t responding, so we grouped up and followed your signatures on the map.”

“Do you know what caused us to pass out?”

“Um, we think this lab experimented with quintessence, so my guess is it had something to do with that. But beyond that, I have no idea.”

Coran nodded. The documents had referenced quintessence energy. Wait… “Do you know exactly what type of experiments happened here?”

“Uh, we think the lab managed to open a portal to, like, a layer between realities--” She cut off as Coran shot up, shaking the slowness out of his muscles.

Coran looked at the center of the room. When he had first walked into the room, he had assumed that the metal ring had been a shield generator, for controlling the experiment conditions. If it was truly another portal… “Number Three, we must leave this place immediately.”

Pidge held up her hands in a calming gesture. “I’m pretty sure it’s safe now. Besides, Lance and Allura aren’t awake yet."

_ Lance…  _ Coran looked around the room, checking for everyone. Shiro was talking to Allura, who was sitting up slowly. Keith was standing next to Shiro. And Hunk was crouched on the floor, next to a clearly unconscious Lance. “Does that mean you also fell victim to whatever was in this room?”

Pidge nodded. “Yeah. We all woke up like five minutes-- er, dobashes-- ago.” She paused and glanced over her shoulder. “Except for Lance and Allura. I think the reason we all aren’t being devoured by fungus is because the portal is broken.”

Devoured by--? “Alright, Number Three. Please explain exactly what happened, starting from when you walked into this room.”

As Pidge relayed all that happened, Coran fiddled with his mustache. Hm. So that was where they had found Allura and himself. Void quintessence… well, he’d seen it do much worse than corrupt some fungus. They were lucky to be alive. But…  “That doesn’t explain how we all lived to wake up.”

Pidge pointed to the inactive portal. “Yeah, I think I figured that out. When we walked into the room, there were a bunch of crystals embedded in that ring. See, now they’re all shattered. So I think the portal is gone now.”

Coran’s eyes narrowed. How had  _ that  _ happened? “I don’t suppose any of you shattered those crystals.”

“Nah. We just kinda woke up and they were destroyed. Maybe the portal was so old that they couldn’t handle the strain?”

Hm. That was a possibility. “Perhaps so.” Still… 

Pidge changed her stance and looked over her shoulder. “Well, since you’re awake, I’m going to go help Lance.”

But no matter how hard they had tried, they couldn’t get Lance to wake up. Shiro, Allura, and Coran had taken turns carrying him back up through the lab, all the way back to the Black Lion. As soon as they’d gotten back to the castle, Coran had brought him to the cryopod. Other than a worryingly low temperature, his vitals were all fine. He should easily have been out in ten minutes, maybe fifteen. And yet, a week later, still nothing.

Coran looked into the cryopod, fiddling with his mustache some more. A theory had been ruminating slowly in the back of his mind, ever since Lance hadn’t woken up in the lowest level of the Altean Lab, with the portal destroyed. As far as Coran knew, humans had no history of quintessence manipulation… but Lance shouldn’t have had that low of an internal body temperature. Nor should he have remained unconscious for this long. 

Even Altea, with its history of quintessential Alchemy, had seen very few awakened quintessence users. During the war, the five Altean stormbringers, as they were called, had been hunted down quickly by Haggar and her druids. Coran had only known one of the five, but only as a casual acquaintance, and she’d had primarily black quintessence. 

Unconsciousness was certainly a symptom of severe quintessence exhaustion; that was common knowledge. Beyond that, each quintessence type reacted differently. Would low internal temperatures be among those reactions? Or perhaps cold internal temperatures were a natural human stress response. 

Unfortunately, Coran didn’t know. Either way, until Lance was ready to wake up, the pod was the best place for him. 

_ In the meantime,  _ Coran thought as he walked towards the door to the medical bay,  _ I may as well keep busy. _

* * *

 

Pidge stared at the the colony of dekkos. A flying Altean hive insect, they functioned similarly to bees, except they didn’t make honey. In fact, the substance they did make was toxic, which caused dekko bites to irritate and swell. As Coran had said, there had been several species of dekko on Altea, and while some were toxic enough to kill a grown Altean with enough bites, the dekkos on the ship could do nothing more than sting.

Opening a slot at the side of the dekko enclosure, she poured a twenty parts to one mixture of water and corrupted quintessence. She didn’t want to overwhelm the tiny dekkos, and she was clueless as to how much would be too much.

Although Pidge had tried to be patient, it had been a week. Surely, Lance would wake up soon, right? She ignored a tiny pang in her chest. And even if no one could technically see the quintessence, maybe there would be some effects that she could observe. 

Like the rest of them, Pidge had woken up on the floor of the lab, stretching away a strange stiffness in her mind. Unlike the rest of them, Pidge knew about the quintessence portal. It must have been old; ten thousand years old. Could those crystals have shattered on their own? And if it had, why hadn't Lance woken up with the rest of them? Maybe she'd question him when he did wake up.

Then again, he’d been very reluctant to share  _ anything  _ with her. Perhaps it would be better to back off? Ugh. Lance was the worst. When she’d initially met him, he’d seemed like the stupidest, simplest, most straightforward person she’d ever met. But when Voltron had happened, all those assumptions had been challenged, one by one. He wasn’t stupid. He clearly wasn’t simple. Hell, he wasn’t even straight.

Still, in his weird, kind of annoying, actually really caring way, he had wormed his way into her heart. In all honesty, she was just… a little worried. She shook her head. Clearly she was worried, or her thoughts wouldn’t have rabbit trailed from her dekko experiment and quintessential sciences to the curiosities and contradictions of Lance McClain.

Suddenly, an alarm blared through the room, startling her out of her thoughts. Pidge cursed, and ran towards the door. This wasn’t going to be fun.

* * *

 

“Pidge, Keith needs help!” Shiro’s voice rang over the comms.

Pidge gritted her teeth as she spun to avoid missiles. “Hunk and I are totally swamped! There’s no way we can get to him!”

A refugee fleet had hailed the castle, asking for rescue from a galra carrier fortress. Carrier fortresses were the biggest galra ships, other than flagships, and were equipped with all forms of weaponry,  top of the line shields, their own fleets of battleships and fighters, and druids capable of performing battle spells. The five lions and the castle could go toe-to-toe with one alone, but without the blue lion, they were stretched dangerously thin.

Keith, as per usual, had charged in headfirst, wreaking a path of destruction, but leaving himself vulnerable. Shiro was trying to back him up, but with the carrier fortress raining hell down on them, they were trapped.

Hunk and Pidge, meanwhile, were just as busy with their own swarms of ships. Hunk, bless his soul, was blasting the fighter fleets to kingdom come, but the battleships were already surrounding them, trying to form an energy net. If Pidge could get to the carrier fortress itself, she could possibly disable it long enough for the castle to destroy it, but she would need one of the other lions to blast a hole in its shield. 

“Pidge, Hunk, we  _ need  _ backup! Now!”

Pidge could feel herself scowl as she bit back a nasty retort. “Shiro, I’m sorry, but if we disengage now, both our lions will take too much fire to stay operational!” She blasted another two battleships trying to sneak around her, and thrashing vines crushed them into pieces. “I don’t think I need to remind you, but we’re on a time limit here!”

As they had learned, druid battle spells took a long time to cast, but given enough time, could disable a lion, making the fight significantly harder. Technically, Pidge knew the druids could do much more than that, but in fights with voltron, that was always their go-to. 

Suddenly, orange light cascaded over her view. “Ah, shit!” The battleships had managed to get in position to activate an energy net. Only Hunk and Shiro could get out of energy nets by themselves; the other lions couldn't gather enough force. “Hunk, they got me! Can you blast me out?”

“There are too many over here to get to you! Allura, how are you doing with the refugee ships?” 

While the paladins fought, Allura and Coran had been bringing the refugee fleet onboard the castle. “We have almost all of them aboard,” Allura’s voice crackled. “ Is there any chance of winning this fight?”

“I doubt-- Okay, Hunk, if you can’t get me out of here, I’ll be in the carrier fortress’s energy prison soon! No way, Princess, we can’t win this!”

“I will prep for wormhole. On my mark, disengage.”

Shiro’s voice cut over the comms. “Keith and I can’t disengage without taking heavy damage, we’re in too deep. We’ll need help.”

“Neither can Hunk and I!” Pidge responded. “The castle can provide enough cover fire to get us  _ maybe _ out alive, but that’s all we’re getting!”

“Allura, as soon as the castle starts firing, we’re disengaging.”

“Aces, Shiro. Ready… set… now!” Suddenly, the energy net around her disappeared, and Pidge bolted towards the castle as fire flew around her. A sudden explosion rang around her, and her lion spun wildly off course. As soon as the world stopped spinning, she checked diagnostics. Shit. Her thrusters were damaged. And she was taking heavy damage from the galra pulse cannons. Using what little mobility she had left, she barely managed to duck out of the way of another missile. The castle loomed larger and larger as Pidge got closer.  _ Come… on…!  _

Pidge held on for dear life as her lion gracelessly hit the floor of the hangar, skidding across with a horrible scraping noise, the vibration rattling her skull. As the world stilled, she let out a shaky, adrenaline-tensed breath.

A tired, pained feeling flowed through her bond.

“Ah, sorry girl. Can you make it to your hangar?”

Grudging confirmation. It would hurt, though. 

Slowly and stiffly, they limped over to the green lion’s personal hangar, pain panging through the bond with every step. “I’ll work on fixing you up later, but I should check on everyone else.” Although the hangars did automatically repair the lions, it worked much faster with a paladin helping.

Pidge exited her lion’s hangar and scanned the hangar. The bay door was open, but Altean science kept it pressurized so that both ships and people could come and go as they pleased. Of course, right now it was more useful as an emergency function. As Pidge looked out into space, an Altean wormhole opened right in front of the castle, and the world outside the bay door shifted, then solidified into new patterns of stars.

Pidge’s stomach clenched as she looked around. All the lions seemed to have entered the same way her’s had: hard and fast. The black lion was limping to her hangar, held up by the yellow lion. The yellow lion, at least, looked to only be scratched. The red lion was crumpled up in a corner, and she couldn’t see Keith anywhere. 

She jogged across the giant hangar to the red lion. As she ran, Keith came around the his lion and into view. He’d taken off his helmet, and as Pidge got closer, she saw that his arm was bent at a funny angle. She slowed down to a walk.

“Dislocated, or worse?” From his face, she couldn’t tell if he was in pain or just annoyed.

“I don’t know. I think something might have torn.”

When she reached him, she turned him around slowly and examined him. Although she’d hated the garrison’s mandatory first aid class, it had been more useful than she could have imagined. “It’s definitely dislocated, but I can’t tell if something else got messed up too.” She gave him a funny look. “Didn’t you take that first aid class at the garrison?”

Keith tried to shrug, and winced. “I didn’t pay attention to many of those types of classes. I was only interested in piloting.”

“Huh. Well, for the record, this is what a dislocated shoulder looks like. Although, again, I don’t know if something else is also messed up.” She grabbed his arm in various places and braced herself. “Okay, this is going to hurt. Do you want me to surprise you, or count of three?”

She felt Keith tense up. “Count of three, please.

“Okay. One, two, three!” She pushed, and Keith let out a gasp as his shoulder realigned.

“Ow!” He moved his arm experimentally, then winced again. “Thanks. I think something’s also torn, though.”

“I guess you’ll need to see Coran for that.” Pidge turned to face the other end of the hangar, where Hunk and Shiro were walking towards them. “At least Hunk and Shiro look okay.”

Keith nodded. “I guess Coran and Allura are still taking care of the refugee ships?”

Pidge blinked. In the chaos of battle, she’d totally forgotten about the refugees. “Oh. Yeah, probably. I guess they’ll be staying on the castle ship for a few days, at least until we get everything sorted out.” Although the castle ship regularly ran rescue missions, they were generally on planets, or for fleets that already had a mothership of sorts to take care of them. In fact, this was the first time the castle would be hosting visitors other than Blade of Marmora and Coalition officials.

She wondered where they would stay. In the same hallways as the paladins? Or were there separated civilian halls? What about dining arrangements? The tiny kitchen they always used certainly wouldn’t have enough room to host--

“Pidge? Hello? Pidge?” Keith was talking to her.

She shook her head and turned. “Huh? Sorry. What?”

“I was just asking how the green lion was doing.”

Her mind refocused. “Oh, um, I got hit by a missile. That was pretty bad. Left rear leg is totally disabled. All the other legs are functional, but not optimal. Hull is battered, but her natural healing and the hangar should make easy work of that. A lot of thrusters are damaged, though.” She turned towards the red lion, still lying in a giant heap. “I, uh, guess your lion isn’t functional?”

Keith’s mouth set in a line as he looked at his lion, worry etched across his brow. “She’s… not doing so well. She wouldn’t walk to her hangar, and the landing hurt. A lot. I came in pretty fast. We figured it would be best to let a larger lion carry her in.” 

Although Voltron itself was symmetrical, the lions were various sizes. Shiro’s and Hunk’s lions were the largest by a long shot, and had holds capable of carrying smaller ships. Lance’s lion was next, capable of carrying a pod. Pidge’s and Keith’s lions were the smallest.

Pidge shook her head. “Generally we can take one of those bad boys pretty easily.”

“Forming Voltron definitely helps.” Keith looked out into space. “Allura and Coran weren’t at the guns, either, since they were boarding the refugee ships. That hurt.”

She nodded. “No kidding.”

Keith turned as Shiro and Hunk approached. “Hey, Hunk, my lion took a beating disengaging. She’ll need help getting to her hangar.”

Hunk nodded. “I’ll get right on it.” He turned and walked back towards his hangar.

As Shiro joined the conversation, he took off his helmet and brushed a hand through his hair. “Pidge, how's your lion doing?”

“Not as bad as yours or Keith's, but not great. Busted leg, blown thrusters, and general roughness all over. It'll take a few days to repair her.”

Shiro frowned and he looked back at the bay door, which was just now closing. “My lion will take perhaps a week to fully recover. That's three lions down.”

Keith split off from the conversation as Hunk’s lion came to help his own. Shiro and Pidge walked towards the door.

“So… it sounds like we're down a lot of firepower for a little while,” Pidge ventured. 

Shiro nodded grimly. “At this point, we just need the blue lion back. With Voltron, we could have easily broken through their barricade.”

The door to the hangar hissed open, and they walked down the hallway. “Has Coran said anything to you about Lance?”

Shiro shook his head. “Nothing we don't already know. By all the scans, he should have woken up in fifteen minutes.”

They walked in silence for a while before Shiro spoke again. “It's been a week, though. Coran says he expects Lance to wake up soon. I don't know why he thinks that, but…”

“…it's better than nothing,” Pidge finished. “It sure sucks not being able to do anything about it, though.” 

They turned a corner and almost ran right into Allura and Coran.

“Shiro!” Allura exclaimed. “Did everyone make it back safely? How are the lions?” 

“Will anyone need a pod?” asked Coran. 

“Keith will need a pod, he messed up his shoulder,” replied Shiro. “Everyone's alright, but the only lion that isn't crippled is Hunk's. It will take at least a week for mine to recover, and Keith's is in worse shape than mine.”

Allura’s brow set in worry. “That is… not good. The Empire now undoubtedly knows we're weak. They will move swiftly to take advantage.”

“Well, we can't do much about it except warn the council. Are the refugees all safe?”

She nodded. “They call themselves the Romija. They are apparently a travelling community that live among the stars, migrating from planet to planet, selling exotic goods.” She frowned. “I do not know why the Empire would target such a people. Perhaps simply for cruel fun.”

“How’d they last long enough for us to get to them?” asked Pidge. “Would a merchant fleet have access to shields?”

“A merchant fleet would not,” Coran replied. “The Romija are more of a tight-knit community than simple traders. Their flagship is equipped with a shield generator that lasted long enough for us to intercede.”

Pidge stared at him curiously. “How do you know that?”

He straightened his posture, a twinkle in his eye. “A little knowledge never goes awry, my dear Number Three. I am, after all, an advisor.”

“That's… not very enlightening.”

Coran grinned behind his mustache, and Allura continued. “Their ships are equipped with their own supplies, but we agreed to host them for a few days. We have the room aboard the castle, and they were happy for a bit of protection.” She clapped her hands together and looked around at them. “However! There will be time for a full briefing later. For now, take a well-deserved break.”

As she walked to her room, Pidge wondered if her dekkos would be any different by the time she got out of the shower.

* * *

 

Her dekkos, as it turned out, were _ not  _ any different. Pidge didn't really know how she felt about that. It was roughly 5 in the evening, by the castle's clock, as she made her way up to the meeting room. 

After taking a shower, she had checked on the colony. Nothing had changed. Of course, she had only poured in the water solution five hours previously, so she couldn't really say she had been surprised. It had been something to do, and she'd spent about an hour observing the busy Altean insects as they ran their hive.

Pidge walked through the door to the meeting room and glanced around. Allura and Shiro were talking by the window, Keith was sitting alone ( _ like an emo _ , Pidge thought to herself), and Hunk was drawing something on a note pad.

As Pidge entered, Allura glanced over at her. “Excellent, you've arrived.” She gestured to a couch. “Please, take a seat.”

Clearing her throat, she looked around. “As you all know, we will be hosting the Romija for five days, although ‘hosting’ is a generous term. They have their own supplies, and will be sleeping in their ships, which are all in bay 9. Coran and I spent some time talking to their leader, and they will largely be operating on their own, although we are, of course, free to visit.”

“So… it sounds like all we’re really doing is giving them a place to stay for a few days,” clarified Hunk.

“That is correct. Truthfully, a full briefing was probably unnecessary, given what I know now. Still, feel free to visit and get to know them. From what Coran and I saw, they seem like an fascinating people.” Her brow darkened. “Now, onto more serious matters.”

“After today’s fight, the galra undoubtedly know we are weakened. Although coalition planets have defenses of their own, Voltron and the castle are the best we have. With three lions down, and a fourth unusable, we should expect the galra to act quickly.”

Pidge raised a hand. “With only one lion and the castle available, what could we even do if the galra do try something?”

“I have already informed the council, and their scouts are on alert. Thankfully, the castle ship is the only vessel in the known universe with wormhole technology, so we will have warning if the galra are on the move.” Her eyes flicked downwards. “However, beyond that… we can only do so much.” She looked at Hunk. “Hunk, depending on how fast the galra attack, you may need to fly alone.”

He nodded. “Desperate times, desperate measures. Coran, do you have any idea when Lance will wake up?”

Coran twisted his mustache. “My best guess would be within the next quintant. Of course, my guesses when it comes to this have proven rather inaccurate.”

Hunk nodded. “Huh. And what’s the time frame for the other lions being fixed?”

“With no help, maybe two weeks,” said Shiro, resting his arm behind his head.

Keith shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked down. “Um, three weeks, I think.”

Hunk winced. “Yikes, man. How about you, Pidge?”

Pidge did a quick mental run-through before answering. “Hm… My lion will probably be operational in maybe a week. I didn’t get hit as bad as you two.”

“Huh. Shiro, your lion is probably the strongest alone, so I can help you out fixing her. Hopefully we can get the green lion and the black lion fixed at roughly the same time. Sorry, Keith.”

Keith grimaced, but nodded, and stood up. “If that’s all, then I’ll go get a headstart.”

Allura nodded. “Good idea. I’ll keep you all updated on the situation. You are all dismissed.”


	11. Awake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long, but I wasn't really sure how to incorporate season 6 into (or not into) my story. Also, I had a really tough time writing a part of the story I'm working on.   
> BE WARNED--SEASON 7 SPOILERS EN MASSE AHEAD (just skip to the end of my notes and you'll be fine)  
> (Also, I'm extremely negative about it. If you just don't want to read another extremely negative essay about Voltron season 7, which is totally understandable, just skip the notes. If negativity just gets you down, or you're also feeling bad about Voltron s7, this will... probably not help. Basically, I would hate to ruin someone's day, so I wanted to warn you all.)  
> So. My friends. Remember how last chapter I said that regardless of what I wanted, the Voltron writers and creators could do whatever they wanted, since it was their story? Well, I still agree with that, but frankly, I feel really angry about how season 7 went. Don't get me wrong; the creators of Voltron owe me nothing. But how the characters were treated, and how their development was all cast aside, is truly awful, especially to the fans who relate so heavily to those characters.   
> I'm also upset about the promises that Voltron has given us, and how majorly they've failed to deliver. They promised us Lance's character development. Well, they sure developed him, alright, right into a characteristically useless, stupid, petty fool whose only redeeming character quality is his (unrequited) love for Allura. Or, at least, it was unrequited until the Voltron writers decided "Hm well I guess all of Allura's development up to this point doesn't matter at all."  
> They also, more importantly, promised us LGBT representation. We were all thrilled out of our minds when Shiro, a disabled Japanese man who is the epitome of leadership and strength, was confirmed to be gay! We were so excited to meet Adam, and see how that relationship developed! You all, well, you know what we got. Another dead gay and not even any real, canon confirmation. To anyone who doesn't know, it's not obvious at all that Adam was Shiro's SO.  
> Also, Zethrid and Ezor. First off, let me say; the lesbian power couple we deserve. But also... just another pair of lesbian villains. In the absence of any other "canon" rep, we only get yet another implication that gay people are either immoral or doomed to unhappiness. That's... terrible.   
> I understand the counterarguments. "The show doesn't cater to you. It belongs to the writers, and they can do what they want." Yeah, that's true. However, as writers, and as writers with a large and very diverse fanbase, they have a responsibility to write in a way that represents all different people, and lets them know that they deserve happiness. As a gay guy who was raised in an incredibly toxic conservative Christian environment, I feel particularly strongly about this. I thought that the word "gay" was a synonym for the word "perverted" until I was fourteen. FOURTEEN. I didn't even know gay people existed until then, and I had been having sexual/romantic feelings for guys for the past two years.   
> It really messed me up.  
> As writers of a popular show that caters to kids, teens, and young adults, they had the opportunity to do something amazing, and they promised us that they would.   
> They let us down on both accounts.   
> Now, let me just say, there are another thirteen episodes. Frankly, until those episodes come out, my opinion doesn't have much justification. Perhaps what seems to be happening won't actually happen. But, given the terrible development of especially Lance and Allura, I don't have much hope. Thirteen episodes just doesn't seem like enough time.  
> But maybe my expectations will be shattered, and the characterizations are really just stage-setting for something incredible. I guess I can hope.  
> Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Deep, numbing cold.

A faint, far away hiss.

A sensation of falling.

Blunt, frigid pain.

As Lance’s mind fell slowly into place, he opened his eyes to the darkened medical bay. He tried to sit up, but was barely able to move his muscles. Holy crow, why was everything so  _ cold?  _ Trying to focus on something else, he did a quick check around him. The darkened med bay indicated that it was night. He stilled himself, and listened. Absolute silence, indicating that no one else was in the room. 

Clearly, he had fallen out of a pod. The Altean lab. Right. Rallying himself, he tried to move again, but was only able to manage a twitch. His heart raced as his mind quelled the irrational fear of paralysation. Slowing his breathing, he twitched some more, and was rewarded with some feeling trickling back to him through the numbness. He laid like that for a while, getting used to movement, as he regained control of his body.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, he was able to sit up and move himself against the wall. Geez, how was he supposed to get to his room like this? Just as he was tentatively stretching his legs, his head bobbed to the left as the door hissed open.

He tried to speak, but only a whisper came out. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Who’s… there?”

“Lance?” The voice was Coran’s. 

_ Ah, gracias a Dios.  _ “Hey… Coran.”

Coran walked over to him and held out a hand. “My alarm alerted me that your pod had opened. I imagine you could use some food in you.”

Honestly, he wasn’t even hungry. He was just… really cold. “I’m… feeling pretty frozen, actually. Could I… get a blanket first?”

“Of course, my boy.” He walked over to a cupboard, rummaged around, and came back holding a thick, soft blanket. “Now, I suppose you will need help getting down to the kitchen?”

Lance nodded through a yawn. “That… would be nice.”

Coran helped him to his feet, wrapped the blanket around him, and helped him slowly make his way through the darkened halls to the kitchen. Once Lance was seated at the table, Coran grabbed a bowl and heated up something from the fridge. 

“Did… Hunk make some soup?”

“More of a stew. Would you like some bread as well?”

“Yes, please.” Now that he’d been awake for a while, he was starting to notice the gnawing hunger that was characteristic of overly long stays in the pods. 

Once the food was done heating, Coran placed it in front of Lance and sat at the other end of the table, hands crossed in front of him. As Lance dug in, he noticed Coran looking at him, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Lance…” At Coran’s voice, he looked up from his meal.

“Hm?” 

“Do you remember anything that happened in the lab?”

Oh. “Well,” said Lance, thinking fast, “after we hacked you guys out of the creepy evil fungus, we tried to get out of that room, but the door wouldn’t open, and then… that’s all I remember.”

“Hm. It seems we all had the same experience, then.” Something in his voice suggested there was something he wasn’t saying.

“So I guess everyone got out fine, then? I noticed there was no one else in the pods.”

“No one else needed the pods. Everyone else woke up on their own within minutes.”

“Uh, that’s weird.” Lance grinned. “Maybe my body decided to catch up on some beauty sleep.”

Coran was still looking at Lance with the same expression. “Lance, you have been in the pod for over a week.”

Lance gaped as shock short-circuited his brain. “W… what?” That was… impossible, right?

“You had no physical injuries of any sort, and by all the scans, you should have awoken in minutes. I was hoping you could enlighten me as to why.”

“I. Uh. I have no idea. That’s crazy. That’s… what all has happened? Have I missed something important? Are Allura and Shiro mad at me? What part of the galaxy are we in? Are we--”

Coran held up a hand to pause the barrage of questions. “I will be happy to explain to you all that you have missed. However, I wish to ask you a question first.”

Lance cocked his head. “Um, sure. Fire away.”

“Have you ever heard of a stormbringer?”

“Um… no. Sounds pretty cool, though.”

“It certainly is. Stormbringers are individuals who can use their quintessence to control various aspects of nature. For instance, a person with primarily red quintessence would be able to summon fire, and use it to his will. Et cetera.”

Caught off guard, Lance’s eyes widened imperceptibly. Did Coran know…? 

Before he could respond, Coran continued. “Just a question, my boy. If you do not feel comfortable answering, I will certainly not take offense.”

Lance looked down at his stew as his emotions flatlined. Coran did know. “I think refusing to answer is still an answer.” He didn’t meet Coran’s eyes as he spoke.

They sat in silence for a while, and Lance took the time to eat more stew, letting the warmth soak through him.

Eventually, Coran broke the silence. “I suppose you would like this to be kept between the two of us?”

“I would appreciate that.”

Coran stood up from his seat. “I… cannot truly understand what you are going through, or how you are taking this. But above all else, know that regardless of quintessence, you are truly a remarkable individual. If you ever need any assistance, or simply someone to talk to, you are welcome to come to me.”

Lance stayed silent as Coran walked towards the kitchen door.

As he walked through the doorframe, he paused and turned around. “Also, it may interest you to know that there is a second training deck more suitable for such talents as the stormbringers possessed. We have never used it, as its location is less convenient, but it was once the training room of the original paladins. It is located in the lower floors of the castle, near the bays. In fact, it should be rather close to our visitors.”

Lance looked up, curiosity sparking. “Visitors?”

“Ah, I suppose you wouldn’t know. We are hosting a community of travellers, known as the Romija, for the next five days. They are staying in ship bay 9. Since they are equipped with their own supplies, our own schedule will not be interrupted. However, I suggest you visit them at least once.”

“Why?”

Although it was dark, Lance could practically see the twinkle in Coran’s eye as he answered. “Why, simply for the culture, of course.”

With that, Coran walked through the doorframe, and Lance was left alone in the dark with his stew.

* * *

 

-Next Day-

Lance awoke jarringly to a beeping alarm.  _ Uugghh. _ The night before, he'd set it in order to get back on the castle schedule, but he was regretting it now. Eventually though, he managed to wake himself up enough to get out of bed.

Despite having been in the pod for over a week, he noticed he was unusually tired as he went about his morning routine. Also, although he took a long, luxuriously hot shower, he couldn't chase away a lingering coldness in his blood. In an attempt to remedy that, he grabbed a blanket off his bed and wrapped it around himself before heading to the kitchen.

As he started to hear the voices of his teammates from the door frame, he slowed to a stop. It had been over a week. How should he greet them? Should he just pretend nothing happened? Hold out his arms for a hug? Or just walk in and let them do whatever? 

“… we just letting them stay down in the ship bay? Are we doing anything at all with them?” asked Pidge.

“They seemed quite content to keep to themselves,” answered Allura. “Although, given their traveling nature, I expect them to want to explore the castle.”

“I would prefer it if they don’t mess around with the workshop,” said Hunk. “If a group of kids gets into some of the stuff in there, they could get hurt pretty badly.”

“I have already restricted certain areas, mostly training and machinery rooms, but I will add the workshop as well,” replied Coran.

Hunk thanked him, and there was a lull in the conversation. Just as Lance was about to enter, Shiro spoke. “Thanks for making waffles, Hunk, they’re delicious.” 

Lance grinned, stepped through the doorframe, and dramatically flaired his arms. “Did someone say  _ waffles? _ ”

There was a shocked silence as every eye at the table turned to look at him. Pidge stood up first and ran over to him. “What a  _ dad! _ ” she exclaimed as she jumped up to hug him like a koala, nearly knocking him over.

Once she was out of the way, Hunk stepped forward. Lance fell into him like a pillow. “I love you babe, but you gotta stop doing this.”

“Give me beauty sleep or give me death,” Lance said into Hunk’s shirt, raising his arm in a fist.

Hunk laughed and stepped away, and suddenly Lance stiffened as he was enveloped in another giant hug from…who? After a final squeeze, the person stepped back, and Lance was looking up at Shiro, who was smiling. “It’s good to have you back.”

Lance looked over at Keith, who was still sitting at the table, looking studiously down at his waffles. Lance smiled and walked around the table, as Keith pretended to not notice him. When he was directly behind him, Lance flopped down over him. “Keeeeeeef, I missed you!”

Keith grunted and tried to push Lance off, to no avail. “It’s-- not even possible for you--to miss me, you’ve been unconscious, that’s-- not a thing--”

“But  _ Keeeeeeeeef _ , it’s been an entire  _ week--” _

“Why-- are you like this, you are actually the worst--”

Lance reached out his hand and grabbed a bite of Keith’s waffles. “Mm. Delicious. Magnificent job, Hunk. You’re a cultural icon.”

“Did you really just--” Keith sputtered. “We have-- so many  _ other waffles that aren’t on my plate right now and you really decided to--” _

Hunk laughed, walked over, and hauled Lance off of Keith and over to his own chair. “Let’s get you off of Keith and over to some food.” He set a plate of steaming waffles down in front of him. 

Lance, who was starving again, dug in. “Love you, babe.” 

The conversation continued energetically from there, until Allura broke in. “Lance, I must say, it is good to have you back. Are you aware of our current situation?”

Situation? “Um, thanks, Allura. Aren’t we hosting some people?”

Allura nodded. “Indeed we are. However, that is not what I was referring to. We are currently down three lions.”

Lance’s eyes widened as he processed the information. “So, I guess that battle involving the refugees didn’t go so well.”

Her brows furrowed in worry. “The refugees are all safe. However, without the blue lion, we were barely able to warp out, and even so we took heavy damage. Hunk’s is the only lion operational. The rest should be up…” she looked at Shiro.

Shiro had his arms crossed in front of him. “About two weeks.”

Lance gaped. “That’s more damage than we’ve ever taken from galra weaponry.”

“It was a carrier fortress,” Pidge chimed in through a mouthful of waffle. 

Yikes. Lance nodded; that would do it. “Lucky we got there in time to help the refugees, then.”

Allura’s mouth pinched into a line. “Yes, but the galra undoubtedly know we are weak. They will likely move quickly to take advantage. You and Hunk are, at this point, our greatest assets. I do not wish to worry you. However…” she left the implication in the air.

Ice curled in Lance’s stomach, but he put on what he hoped was a confident smile. “Right. We’re on call. Sure thing, Princess.”

“Excellent." She clapped her hands together. "Well, I had best get back to business. I expect you all to spend most of your time working to fix your lions. Hopefully we will be back at full strength in no time.” Turning, she walked through the doorframe. 

After Allura left, Lance looked around. “So, uh, anyone want my help?”

The other paladins shook their heads. “Thanks for the offer, though,” said Hunk. 

As he’d found out very early on, Lance was no good at complex mechanics. It didn’t come easily to him, and it didn’t catch his interest. Thus, although he could help Hunk out in the workshop, he was practically useless at fixing any lions other than his own.

“You’re free to do as you wish, Lance,” said Shiro. “But you might want to train at least a little. Wouldn’t want you to be rusty from the pods.”

* * *

 

 

Lance had tried. He really had. He knew he was pretty drained. It was obvious; he was more tired than normal, he was too cold, and he knew he must still be recovering from the Altean lab. So, this was  _ probably  _ a bad idea. Alas, his willpower had lasted for only two hours after breakfast before his curiosity and poor impulse control took over.

_ Where did Coran say this place was? _ Near the visitors. Which were in… ship bay nine. He had consulted a map, his memory of which lasted about ten minutes. Had Lance ever even been in this part of the castle? He didn’t think so. His two retreats were the pool room and the observatory. 

He turned a corner to see a sign over a large, clear door. Was that word… weapon? War? Well, it was something vaguely related to what he wanted. Typing in the code, he walked through the door and looked around.

A front desk, a directory sign, multiple hallways… A brush of wistfulness whispered through him as he wondered how long it had been since these had been used. Shaking his head, he looked at the directory sign. Although he’d been studying Altean, he didn’t know many of the words, but “training room” and “armory” he recognized. The castle had an armory?

_ Of course the castle has an armory,  _ Lance chided himself. This must be the warrior’s equivalent of a gym. But more importantly, the training room. Down the left hall.

After walking for roughly thirty seconds down the hall, past weight rooms and possibly a locker room, Lance paused as he heard the sharp sound of metal on metal coming from… was that the training room? At the very end of the hall was a large, heavy glass door, much like the training room in the upper levels, but darker colored. Lance looked in through the door.

A tall, armored figure holding a sword and shield was fighting toe to toe with a gladiator holding an axe. Silently, Lance observed as the figure blocked, parried, and dodged with expert fluidity.  _ This must be one of the visitors Coran was talking about,  _ Lance thought as he watched. Finally, after the gladiator swung the axe too far, the figure bashed it to the ground and stabbed it through the chest, and the gladiator fell to the floor. Typing in the code, Lance walked into the room.

At the sound of the door opening, the figure turned and pressed a button on their neck, and the helmet vanished into a collar. Long, red hair cascaded out behind her, and she set her sword and shield down. The stranger had light green skin, and eyes that looked entirely black. Brown freckles dusted her face, and although she was perhaps a foot and a half taller, she looked no older than Lance himself. She was breathing heavily, but her eyes were locked onto Lance’s.

Most noticeably, she had a set of antlers that stuck out and branched around her head, as if to protect it. “So…  I take it you’re… one of the castle people?”

Lance nodded. “Pretty much. I suppose you’re one of the visitors?”

She grinned and wiped some sweat from her brow. “Sounds about right. What are you…all the way down here for? The princess lady… said you all kept upstairs.”

“Uh… recommended from a friend.” They regarded each other for a few seconds before Lance continued speaking. “Lance McClain, by the way.”

She bowed. “Jaxeen Shintana.”

Lance bowed in return. “So, what are you doing down here? Coran told me he’d password-protected all the dangerous areas.”

“Mustache, right? I asked him for the password. Most of the warriors in our clan practice with each other, but I figured I could make use of the Altean technology for as long as I’m here.” She looked around. “I might never get the chance again.”

“Neat.” Lance smiled at her. “I was watching you sparring. You killed it.”

“Thanks.” She looked at him and cocked her head. “Do you fight as well?”

Lance glanced down at the sword and shield. “Uh, kind of. I’m more of a sniper.”

“Ahhhh, right. I was going to ask you to spar, but that wouldn’t be very fair.” She looked over at a control computer in the wall. “Pity, though.”

“Uhh, I can kind of spar. In close combat, I usually use dual pistols. If you want to spar against that.”

Jaxeen looked back at him. “Hell, sure. Fighting against gladiators gets a little boring.” She glanced down at the floor where the dispatched gladiator had been. “I should know. I’ve been here all morning.”

Lance laughed. “Yikes. I can usually only stand it for a couple hours at a time.”

She grinned and walked to the other side of the room. “So… you ready?”

Lance took off his jacket, grabbed some of the training deck armor pods (which were like the helmet Jaxeen had taken off), and threw it on. Thankfully, he’d taken his bayard with him.

As he morphed his bayard into dual pistols, Jaxeen gasped. “Woah, hey, you’re a paladin?”

“Uh, yeah.” Lance looked up from his bayard. Jaxeen’s eyes were wide. “Trust me, it’s a lot less intimidating than it seems. Besides, I’m the sniper, so I don’t have much close range experience.”

She still looked somewhat wary. “So… no crazy paladin advantage that I should be aware of.”

Lance laughed. “Nah. At least, not with me. Honestly, we’re all normal people.” He winked. “Just don’t tell Zarkon.”

Jaxeen smiled. “Well, I suppose it looks good on the record, having sparred with a paladin of Voltron.” She raised her shield. “Ready?”

Lance nodded. “Anytime.”

“Well then… let’s go!”

The two circled around the training arena slowly, eyeing how the other moved. Jaxeen started to walk forward, and Lance fired two shots, both of which she caught on her shield.

Knowing he couldn’t do much until she exposed an opening, Lance waited until Jaxeen charged him, and fired another two shots, then rolled out of the way of the sword swing. As he rolled, he scored a shot on her arm. 

Skipping back, they both regarded each other again. Although Jaxeen was rolling her shoulder, she still seemed capable of moving it. Again, she charged.

Lance rolled again, but Jaxeen was expecting it this time. On the floor, Lance barely managed to roll out from the sword, and gave himself some space with a barrage of shots. Even through the barrage, Jaxeen was able to charge him once more. 

This time, Lance skipped back to avoid the slash, and fired another two shots at Jaxeen’s back, which was exposed from her swing.

To Lance’s surprise, Jaxeen dove forward under his shot and bashed up with her shield, throwing him backwards. Barely keeping his balance, Lance managed to sidestep the follow up swing, and got another shot off on her lower back.

As Jaxeen spun through the attack, a sudden wave of cold slashed through his chest, and numbness spread through his body. Jaxeen stood off to the side, sword held in what Lance now realized was an upper slash that had sliced right through his chest. Lance went down gracelessly, and waited for feeling to creep back into his limbs.

In roughly thirty seconds, when he was able to stand, Jaxeen helped him up, looking a little put off. 

“Clever style. As long as you stay at mid range and don’t get in duels, it works pretty well.”

Lance bent over, hands on his knees. “Yeah. Great fight.”

They walked over to the bench, and Jaxeen handed him a glass jar full of water. “So… do you have a plan for when an enemy engages you directly?”

Lance took a drink from the jar and shook his head. “Nah. Shiro, the black paladin, says I should never engage enemies head on, since all my weapons are ranged.”

Jaxeen cocked her head. “Don’t those bayards change into whatever you need?”

Lance laughed. “I wish. The bayards are… kinda weird. Each paladin starts off with only one weapon. Through training, they can learn how to shift it into others. So far, I can shift mine into a long range rifle and dual pistols.”

Jaxeen frowned. “Hm. Yeah, not too helpful.”

Lance stood up. “It’s really only--” He suddenly cut off as painful ice flooded through his body. With a gasp, he dropped to his knees as a splitting headache pierced through his skull.

Jaxeen dropped down next to him, worry painted across her face. Although her mouth was moving, Lance couldn’t spare the focus to string the sounds into words. Instinctively, Lance curled up on the floor as all his senses shut down from the cold, sharp pain.

He felt something on his sides, and then felt his body slowly uncurl, and he was lifted into the air. Through the muted pain, he realized that Jaxeen was carrying him out of the training room. 

Step by step, beat by beat, pressure thumped through Lance’s skull for what felt like far too long, until finally he succumbed to the darkness behind his tightly shut eyes, and drifted into murky unconsciousness.


	12. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello folks, I'm back again.  
> College just started up for me and it is Awful.  
> I have racked my brain about changing the title to something more fitting, but as of yet have gotten absolutely no where. I love the suggestions, but... I mean, I'm the only one who really knows where the story is going, so none of those titles (while they were excellent ideas) really captures what I'm going for. Ah well, I'll keep pondering.  
> Thanks for all the kudos and encouragement, it means a lot!  
> Hope you enjoy!

Lance awoke to dim lights and a slight pressure behind his forehead. Stirring weakly, he opened his eyes, sat up, and looked around. He was… in a place he’d never seen before. The walls and floors were made of dark brown wood that twisted and curved, almost as if alive. Colorful cloth art and crystals decorated everything, and the room was lit by several soft paper lanterns.

Lance stood up slowly. He had been laying on a large, dark blue pillow; Jaxeen must have brought him to one of the ships. Lance walked stiffly to the door, opened it (how long had it been since he’d opened a swinging door?) which led into a larger room with a dining table. On the other side of the room was a kitchen area and a countertop. So this was the dining room/kitchen? Although all of the structures looked to be made of wood, the kitchen equipment was clearly high tech, and Lance doubted the wood could burn. Again, the room was lit by paper lanterns, and the walls were furnished with tapestries and other artworks. Decorated shelves, cupboards, and countertops were placed around the room, giving it a colorfully modern aesthetic that sparked a pang of homesickness in Lance.

At the stove top, tending to what looked to be a large crock pot, was a short figure dressed in a simple brown cloak. Colorful feathers and cloths decorated her thick, dark grey hair. At the sound of the door opening, she turned around, revealing a wrinkled, but kindly face. She wore numerous necklaces and beautifully woven bracelets.

“ _ Aha! Ece shu patana. _ ” At Lance’s look of confusion, she rolled her solid black eyes. “ _ Jaxeen! Sebe conva! _ ”

A few seconds later, Jaxeen walked in another door, looking around the room and heaving a sigh of relief when she saw Lance. “Thank the mother and the maiden,” she said exasperatedly, though she was obviously relieved. “What the hell, Lance! I thought you’d died! I thought I killed you!”

Lance grinned sheepishly. “Uh. Yeah. Um, sorry about that. I have no idea what that was.”

The old woman, who had turned back to her crock pot, raised a hand. “ _ Caliska mudu. Efe ud jedenu malama, shu nexan mar parda. _ ”

Jaxeen turned, looking affronted. “Grandmother!” She turned back towards Lance. “Please don’t mind her. She’s always a bit, uh, blunt.”

Lance smiled. He would recognize that tone anywhere. “Sounds like my abuela. It’s fine, I can’t understand her anyways.”

Jaxeen frowned. “Doesn’t the castle…?” The same thing occured to Lance at the same time. They both glanced over at the old woman, who was looking at them with a twinkle in her eye. 

She tapped her temple with her finger and grinned. “ _ Zoruni Altea forsinjasda neida im deste, ci? _ ”

Lance glanced at Jaxeen, who translated. “Uh, she says not everyone makes a habit of letting Altean castle magic into their heads.”

Both Jaxeen and Lance looked curiously at her. Well, that was new. 

The old woman cackled and looked at them both. “Ah, never gets old,” she said in perfect english, with an unfamiliar accent. She turned back to the crock pot. “Sweetheart, you seem quite nice, but you shouldn’t make a habit of running around so low on quintessence.”

Lance’s eyes widened as he absorbed the information. And she was now speaking english? She shuffled over to him and thrust a colorful glass jar of cold orange liquid into his hands. “Drink up, good for the soul.”

“Uh, I’m a human, so are you sure this is--”

She waved a hand behind her. “Of course it is, I made it myself.”

Lance took a hesitant sip. It had the consistency and temperature of a smoothie, and tasted like citrus. He drank more. “So, uh, what time is it?”

Jaxeen glanced at the clock. “I think our circadian rhythm is a couple hours longer than yours, but we’re going by the castle time for while we’re here. It’s almost dinner. ”

Curiosity ran through Lance’s mind. “Coran told me you guys travelled from planet to planet. Do you always adapt to the time of the planet you’re on? How long do you stay?”

Jaxeen had walked over to one of the cupboards, and got out supplies for what appeared to be a sandwich. “Yeah, we only visit planets that have similar day spans to our own. Er, not that we have our own planet. We do have our own rhythm, though. We make sure to stay on a schedule, for the sake of continuity and convenience. It’s just how we live.” She took a bite out of her sandwich.

Huh. Cool. 

The old woman snorted. “Eating again, Jaxeen? You’ll spoil your dinner.”

Jaxeen took another bite out of the sandwich. “I’ve had a long, stressful day!” she shot a pointed glare at Lance. “You know, you were out for 8 hours.”

Lance’s eyes widened. “I’ve been sleeping for  _ 8 hours? _ ”

Jaxeen nodded. “I told you, I was worried I’d killed you.”

“Wow. Thanks for… carrying me over here. And letting me sleep in your…” he looked around. “Where is this, exactly?”

Jaxeen gestured around. “This is the Romija flagship. Well, kind of. It’s not really all that different than any of the other ships, but it belongs to Grandmother.”

“Grandmother?”

“She’s the leader of our tribe, but her title is also just Grandmother. It’s a sign of great respect.” She raised her voice, clearly meaning to be heard. “I have no idea how she got it, though!” 

Grandmother chuckled. “No stew for disrespectful children!” She looked over at Lance. “And no stew for those who don’t finish their fruit blends!”

Lance looked down. He had completely forgotten about the smoothie. He took another long sip. Funny; although it was cold, it seemed to warm him inside. A deep, silent weariness that he hadn’t even realized was there seemed to ease as he drank more.

Grandmother spoke again as she sprinkled various substances into the crock pot. “Jaxeen, could you take Lance and round up Cerri, Dauna, and Nix? Also, tell Luxa and Drow that we’ll have a visitor. And introduce him while you’re at it.”

Lance tried to catalogue the names as she listed them off, but he knew he’d forget most of them. 

Jaxeen gestured to the door she’d come through. “Well, Lance, looks like you’re about to meet  _ everyone. _ ” She grinned and opened the door, which revealed a staircase that doubled down to a lower level filled with armchairs, a couch, various drawers and bookshelves, and a center table that looked like it had technological functions as well. “This is the living room,” Jaxeen explained as they walked through it. “Since this is Grandmother’s ship, it’s the elders’ meeting room as well.”

After Lance chugged the rest of the smoothie, they walked through the door out of the ship, and Lance gasped. What he recognized as Romija ships were all around, and at all different heights. They seemed to have taken root in the ground, and grown up like trees in elaborate formations. Giant, leafy branches spread out in every direction, and paper lanterns were strung all around, creating a makeshift canopy of ships and lanterns. Colorful, surprisingly sturdy tapestries connected the various ships like bridges, and activity was buzzing around the bay, which Lance noticed had been dimmed. Perhaps the Romija didn’t like bright lights.

Adults of various statures and hair colors ranging from light brown to dark red to black on the ground prepared various meals, or tended to large boxes of growing plants that Lance assumed were crops, although some appeared to just be flowers. Children ran around among the cloth pathways, and played on the ground. 

Jaxeen looked back at him and smiled. “It’s quite a sight. No matter how many times we set up, I don’t think it’ll ever get old.” She looked around and mused to herself. “Now where are they…?”

She walked down the various tapestry bridges, Lance behind her, torn between following and gazing at the Romija village. When she finally reached ground level, she ran over to a small, light brown haired Romija and held up her hand. “Hey, Nix!” 

Nix looked around ten, and his antlers only covered about half of his head. Upon seeing Jaxeen, he ran towards her and jumped up as high as he could to high five her. “Hey, Jax! Is dinner almost ready?” He looked curiously at Lance, but didn’t say anything else.

Jaxeen nodded. “Yep. Do you know where mommy and daddy are?”

Nix pointed behind him, towards a giant cluster of cloth structures. “They’re helping set up for dinner.” 

Jaxeen nodded. “Awesome, thanks. Could you find Dauna and Cerri, too?”

Nix nodded. “Is Sevor going to sit with us today?”

Jaxeen shook her head. “Nope, he’s sitting with family.” She waved as Nix ran off in search of his assumed siblings. 

As they walked towards the large cluster of tents, Jaxeen explained the various acquaintances. “Nix, Cerri, and Dauna are my younger siblings. They’re all way younger than I am, though, so I’m the cool older sibling.” She grinned. “Luxa and Drow are my parents, and Grandmother is my actual grandmother as well.”

Lance nodded. “What about Sevor?”

She smiled happily. “He’s my partner of a year. On feast days, we sometimes eat together, which is why Nix asked.”

Lance smiled too. “That’s so sweet.”

She looked down, still smiling. “Yeah, he’s wonderful.”

“So, I take it these ‘feast days’ don’t happen every night?”

Jaxeen shook her head. “We’re a pretty tight knit community. There are probably a little over… six hundred of us? Not everyone knows everyone, of course, but there’s a real sense of solidarity. To promote that, and since we just enjoy spending time together, we all prepare a meal and eat together around two times a month.”

Lance had been to church potluck enough times to grasp the idea. “Back on my home planet, there was an organization I was a part of that did that every few weeks. Of course, there were way fewer people, but it was still fun.”

They chatted about various things from each of their cultures until they reached the mass of open-sided tents. Mouth-watering scents drifted in the air, some sweet, some savory, reminding Lance of a fairground. After walking for bit, Jaxeen pulled him over to a middle aged couple, comprised of a man chopping up vegetables and a woman mixing a large salad. 

The woman looked a lot like Jaxeen, but for her shorter height and black hair, which was tied up in a bun. The man was tall and intimidating, despite a friendly smile, and had red hair and freckles. Upon their arrival, they looked up from the salad. 

“Jaxeen!” the woman said warmly. She cocked her head as she saw Lance. “And who’s this?”

“Mom, meet Lance. He’s the blue paladin. We were sparring together.” She looked over at him. “Lance, this is Luxa, my mother.” She gestured to the man. “And Drow, my father.” 

Drow smiled and nodded at him in greeting, and Lance nodded back. 

Jaxeen continued. “Grandmother sent me to gather everyone up, she’ll be down in just a little while with her stew. I told Nix to grab Cerri and Dauna.”

Luxa rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why it’s so much easier for them to listen to you than to me, but I’ll take it.”

“Eldest sibling privilege.”

“Mm. Could you and Lance please set up our seating?”

Jaxeen nodded and led Lance over to a pile of pillows and what looked like wooden step stools. “Can you grab some of those?”

Lance complied, and followed Jaxeen to a large, open space in the middle of the tents, where other Romija were setting up pillows in circles. 

Jaxeen explained as they walked. “See, the pillows are seating, and those wooden things are like personal tables.”

Once they’d set up, they helped Luxa and Drow carry the food over to a group of tables that were filled with various pots, bowls, and trays. Nix had returned with two Romija girls, a light brown haired girl that Lance learned was Cerri, and a smaller redhead, Dauna. Eventually, everyone was seated, and the sound of a hundred friendly conversations floated through the air.

In fact, the only person Lance didn’t see was Grandmother. He leaned over to Jaxeen. “Where’s Grandmother?”

“She’ll be here shortly. She always blesses the meal.”

Slowly, the chatter around the area simmered down. Grandmother was in front of the tables, with her hands raised. Once everyone was silent, she began to speak.

“My fellow Romija,” she began, her voice somehow magnified to reach everyone in the area, “it is by the blessing of the mother and the maiden, and by the aid of Voltron, that we are here today. Through our travels, we often flirt with danger, but a day ago, we came closer to destruction than ever before.” 

A ripple of mutters went through the crowd. “It was a grim reminder of our own mortality. So, let us hold each other dearly, and be grateful for all that we still have.” She turned to the tables of food. “May the blessing of the mother and the maiden be with us tonight, as we feast together, and may we always be grateful for the gift of life that we have been given.”

At the end of the blessing, the crowd bustled to life as everyone went to get food. Lance and Jaxeen stood back and waited for the crowd to disperse slightly before going to get their own food. 

“So, I guess the mother and the maiden are… like, deities?” Lance asked.

Jaxeen shrugged. “They’re more like ideals. Other Romija tribes worship them like that, but we see them more as… examples, I suppose. It’s hard to describe. The mother stands for wisdom and empathy, and the maiden for passion and strength. They represent what we value.”

“Oh.”

They chatted for a while longer, until the crowd around the food tables had thinned, at which point they got some food and returned to the circle.

Lance spent the rest of the evening eating, talking, and laughing with the Romija family. Under the paper lanterns and the hanging branches, Lance felt a darkness in the back of his mind slowly begin to clear. Although he was trillions of miles away from earth, Lance felt more at home than he had in a long, long time.

* * *

 

 

“He missed training. Again.”

“Well, he has been in the pod for a week. He’s probably a little spacey.”

“Shiro, it doesn’t matter if he’s ‘spacey!’ He and Hunk are our only paladins right now!”

“Yeah. I know, it’s a bad situation.”

“‘Bad’ doesn’t cut it, Shiro! When the galra attack, and they  _ will _ attack, we have no answer! I won’t-- I  _ can’t _ \-- let another planet… another Altea…”

“Hey… hey. It’ll be okay. We’ll get through this, Princess.”

“I… I know. It just seems like… he doesn’t care. And I don’t know how to fix it.”

“He’s always been a little… unfocused. I don’t think he’s ever really wanted to be here.”

“Sometimes I wonder if the blue lion… chose well.”

“I can try talking to him. Again.”

“Thank you, Shiro.”

“Yeah, of course. I’m going to go get some sleep. You should probably do the same.”

“Perhaps so. Goodnight, Shiro.”

“Goodnight, Princess.”

* * *

 

 

Lance’s emotions were light as he walked towards the door to the ship bay. The night had flown by, and he’d enjoyed every second of it. He’d hit it off well with Jaxeen’s family, which was good, considering he’d slept in Grandmother’s ship for 8 hours. The kids, Cerri, Dauna, and Nix, had questioned him incessantly about his life as a paladin, and Lance was more than happy to tell them stories. He was tired, but it was a good tired; a happy tired that rested in his mind rather than his soul. Jaxeen and her family had made it clear that he was welcome back anytime.

As the door hissed open in the darkness, a sudden noise jolted him out of his thoughts.

“Lance.”

Lance turned to see Grandmother standing behind him, a serious expression on her face. 

They stared at each other for a few seconds before she opened her mouth to speak again. “Lance, dear, do you have a moment?”

Lance blinked, and nodded. “Yeah, absolutely. Is there anything I can do for you?”

Grandmother chuckled. “Just an assurance. You ought to stay out of action for a week or two. After tonight’s rest, you ought to be able to train, but that’s it. Can you do that?”

A question flickered in Lance’s mind. “Is this about… quintessence?”

She smiled, a twinkle in her eye. “Mm. I see you know some things yourself.” Her smile set back into a line. “Dipping so low on quintessence can be quite dangerous, dear. You are young, and healthy; you should heal quickly enough. But you need  _ time _ .”

Lance started to nod, then hesitated. “I’m not sure I can do that. Right now… Voltron isn’t doing so well. Three of our lions are down. I’m one of the only two lions active. I’ll try to take it easy, but I might be called on to fight if the galra try something.”

Although he knew Grandmother was old, she seemed to age in front of him as a somberness settled on her face. Seeming to come to a resolution, she bent her head down and lifted a necklace off from around her neck. Strung with blue and green shells, a tooth of an unfamiliar creature hung as its pendant. Gathering it in her palm, she offered it to Lance. “Take this. If you must fight, wear it. It will help, at least a little.”

Lance looked at the old woman, and an idea struck him. He turned on his quintessence vision, and blinked in surprise. Grandmother’s quintessence was a normal green and yellow, but smaller auras of all different colors surrounded her. The necklace in her hand held a mix of black and yellow quintessence. He blinked, and the world was normal again. Reaching out, he took the necklace. It felt completely ordinary in his hand.

Grandmother stepped back. “It was lovely having you over for dinner. Be sure to visit again.”

With that, she turned and walked back towards the ships, leaving Lance alone in the darkness with a necklace in his hand. Carefully, he slipped it over his head, and walked away.


	13. Perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! It's no longer 95 degrees in the shade and that means that Life Is Kind Of Okay!  
> Unfortunately, with the blessed, blessed coolth comes Festering Plague. Aka I'm very sick. But that's okay because worst case scenario I'll die.  
> Anyways, I hope y'all's lives are going well. Mine is... alright. So much of how I view my life is "will I be able to pursue my dreams" which is kind of dangerous, because if I don't reach those dreams, then... my mental health will probably take a hit. Also, what with college prices, I don't have all the time in the world. But regardless, I have people who care about me, and whom I care for, and I just gotta have faith that life is more than what I'm able to accomplish.  
> That said... I hold out hope.  
> Anyways, I'm sure y'all don't care much about my personal life, so I hope you enjoy this chapter! As always, your support and encouragement really does mean so much. It's crazy how it just puts me in a good mood. You all are awesome, and I hope you have a great day!

-Next Day-

As he rolled the last piece of dough into a knot, Hunk checked the baking temperature one last time. Dabbing a brush into the melted butter (courtesy of Kaltenecker), he started absentmindedly brushing the garlic-knots-to-be, and tried not to think about the world.

Hunk was, frankly, at a loss. He was confused, and worried, but also, he felt pretty hurt. It was clear Lance had been hiding something in the Altean lab. They were best friends! They told each other everything! Hunk had even been the person Lance had come to when he’d been struggling with his bisexuality. Why would Lance hide anything from him? He had no idea.

In celebration of Lance getting out of the pods, Hunk had prepared one of his favorite meals for dinner: empanadas (spicy, of course) with tres leches cake. Lance hadn’t shown up. Honestly, even before the Altean lab, Lance had been… scarce. Hunk knew he was was studying Altean, and he assumed he trained at least some of the time. That didn’t account for how often Lance was missing from the group, though. Regardless, Hunk felt pretty hurt. And, if he were to admit it, a little lonely, too. In fact, the last time Lance had made an appearance was breakfast the day before.

He’d also missed the evening training session, much to the chagrin of Allura and Shiro. Although they’d searched for a little while, and had sent Lance a message on his communicator, they had eventually just gone on without him. After all, it was what they’d been doing for the last week.

Hunk sighed and slid the tray of knots in the oven. Hopefully the savory snacks would help Lance open up to him about… whatever it was that was bothering him. Maybe they’d make Hunk feel better too.

Suddenly, the door hissed open, and Hunk turned to see Pidge sprint into the kitchen, clearly out of breath. “Hey, have you seen Lance?”

Hunk shook his head. “No. I was just making him some garlic knots. What’s the rush?”

“Science!” Rushing over to the fridge, she reached in and grabbed a block of cheese, and ran out the door.

“Save some of it for dinner!” Hunk called out after her as he set the timer on his Altean phone. Slipping it into his pocket, he walked out the door, thinking of places Lance could be.

* * *

 

Shiro stared intently out into the forest of tree-ships as he leaned against the bay doorframe. He’d spent most of the day searching for Lance. For someone who was as socially needy as Lance was, Shiro was more than a little surprised at how scarce he had been. He probably should have considered that Lance would be down with the Romija. Shiro himself hadn’t visited them yet, but Allura had told him they seemed like a tight-knit group.

It had, however, been Coran who had given him that suggestion, and only after Shiro had already searched almost everywhere else; the observatory, the kitchen, his room, the workshop, and the training deck all had turned up empty. He’d also asked the other paladins, but they hadn’t seen him either. In truth, Shiro was a little worried.

Suddenly, a flash of green and blue caught his eye. Lance was running, holding a multicolored cloth in his hand. A swarm of laughing Romija children followed close behind him. Looking behind him, Lance made an exaggerated tripping motion, and tumbled down onto the floor. Wasting no time, the swarm of children climbed around over him as he dramatically fought to stand up, then fell over again.

When the children finally let him surface, Shiro had never seen such a happy, toothy grin on his face. Then, as if responding to a call, Lance turned towards an elderly Romija woman, laden with necklaces and bracelets, who walked over to him. As Shiro watched, the woman thrust a jar of orangish liquid into Lance’s hands, speaking animatedly. Lance smiled at her, thanked her, and took a long sip of… whatever the drink was.

Setting the jar on a nearby box, Lance returned to playing with the children. Suddenly aware of the faint smile on his face, Shiro looked away to a nearby row of planter boxes brimming with fruits and other plants. He’d come here for a reason… but maybe it could wait, at least for a little while.

Walking out into the ship bay, Shiro wandered through the makeshift forest of ships, admiring the colorful bridges strung between the ships. Did the Romija always settle on planets like this? Various Romija were out and about, tending to various tasks, such as the planter boxes. By one ship, a small group of elderly Romija knitted and wove colorful strands together while they talked.

“Why, hello there,” a voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned to face a middle-aged Romija woman with long, black hair. “Are you… Shiro?”

Caught off guard, Shiro nodded. “Uhm, yes.”

The woman smiled. In her arm, she held a large basket filled with various high-tech tools and tiny sprouts. She lifted a hand to her temple, and then her forehead in what Shiro assumed was a greeting. “My name is Luxa. Lance was telling us about the other paladins last night at dinner. The hair gave it away.”

Shiro mimicked the greeting, and smiled. “Oh, that would explain it. I was wondering where Lance was last night.”

She looked past him, a fond expression on her face. “He’s quite a sweet boy. He’s been playing with the children for a few hours now. They can’t get enough of him.”

Shiro turned to look behind him. Lance was sitting, legs crossed, in front of all the children, body language engaged in what was clearly, by the looks on the children’s faces, a thrilling story. “Yeah, I think he had a big family back home. He’s always been a really social person.”

“Is there any particular reason you’re down here, or are you just visiting?” Shiro’s attention was pulled away from Lance, who was flaring his arms dramatically, back to Luxa.

“Well, actually, I’m here for Lance. But, he seems pretty engaged right now, so I think I’ll just…” He trailed off as Luxa made a swatting gesture.

“Nonsense! I’ll go over and grab him.” She walked over to the group, and they all looked up at her as she spoke. A second later, Lance looked over at Shiro and froze momentarily. Within a microsecond, the smile was back on his face, but not quite as wide as before. Standing up, Lance turned and said something to the kids, then walked over to Shiro.

“Hey, Shiro!” he said cheerily. “What’re you down here for?”

Shiro’s brain scrambled as he fought over what to do. Would it be better to just get it over with? Should he go light? “Um, yeah, could I just, talk to you alone for a second?” Shiro led Lance over to an area where their conversation wouldn’t be overheard. “I just wanted to remind you about group training this evening. We haven’t seen you since yesterday morning.”

Although Lance’s body posture remained open, Shiro could almost feel the tension in the air. “Right. Yeah, I’m really sorry about that.”

Shiro waited for some explanation, but Lance went no further. “So, was there… some particular reason you missed it yesterday?”

Lance looked off to the side. “Honestly, I just totally forgot.” He grinned, but it didn’t feel genuine. “Pod-brain strikes again.”

“Hm. Well, you might want to work on that excuse for Allura. She wasn’t too happy.”

Lance’s mouth set in a line. “Yeah, I figured. Thanks, though.”

Shiro smiled in what he hoped was a friendly way. “Also, I think Hunk would appreciate it if you showed up at dinner tonight.”

Lance didn’t smile back. “Uh, yeah, I saw the leftovers in the fridge.”

There was an awkward pause in the already awkward conversation. “Well, that was all I wanted to talk about. Uh, enjoy the rest of your day.” Not waiting to see Lance’s response, Shiro turned and walked away.

Once he was back through the bay door, Shiro let out a breath he hadn’t know he was holding, then rested his forehead in his hand. Why was every interaction he had with Lance just so painfully uncomfortable? Each of the other paladins seemed to get along well with him, except for maybe Keith. Of course, most people loved someone that made them laugh, regardless of their other characteristics.

 _Maybe Allura was right,_ Shiro thought as he turned a corner to the training room. _Maybe he just needs to buckle down and start taking things seriously._

* * *

 

Dark, silent thoughts whirled through Lance’s mind as he walked quickly through the door to the empty Altean barracks. As if to mute the anger and the frustration, his brain was focused solely on getting to the training room. Slamming the button to open the door, Lance walked inside and morphed his bayard into a rifle.

“Start training program. Gladiator, level one.”

A bot dropped down from the ceiling. With only a few shots to get around its shield, the bot went down easily, but the victory gave him no satisfaction.

“Level two.”

This bot was slightly smarter than the last one, and used its shield to get in range to swing at Lance with a double-ended saber. Dodging, Lance fired a shot at its arm. With one limb disabled, the bot went down easily.

Lance grit his teeth. This was too easy. He needed something harder. “Level five!” He could feel anger slowly building up as he breathed heavily. Darkness whispered at the edge of his mind, but he disregarded it as the bot dropped down, holding a large shield and a sword. Suddenly, Lance realized that he hadn’t put on any armor. Just as suddenly, he realized that he didn’t care.

The gladiator charged forward, and Lance shot at it twice with dual pistols. The bot easily caught the shots with its shield, and swung forward with the sword. Skipping backwards, Lance fired another two shots, but the bot charged forward with its shield this time, and bashed Lance backwards, catching him off balance. Anger pulsed through him as he rolled to the side to avoid a swing from the sword, and he kicked out at the gladiator’s feet.

The gladiator jumped to avoid it, but in the moment of the jump, Lance rolled under its guard and fired directly into its head. The bot fell over lifelessly, and the sword fell from its hand, landing by his neck.

“Level seven!” Lance staggered as he stood up, and looked down at his shaking hands, white from how tightly he was holding his pistols. The darkness was clawing its way up now, and anger raged through his blood, unable to find an outlet as the gladiator dropped down, holding two large, spiked maces. Fury pulsed behind his eyes as he fired shot after shot after shot at the gladiator, but it caught each one on its maces, which it held in a defensive position as it slowly walked closer and close to Lance.

Lance shot again, and the gladiator charged forward and swung a mace at his side. Lance jumped quickly back, but the gladiator swung forward again. A wave of shock and pain crashed through Lance as the spiked mace connected heavily with his shoulder, and he crashed to the ground.

As the gladiator swung downward for the killing blow, the rage built up to a breaking point. All rational thought abandoned, Lace sprang up from the ground with a feral snarl as his vision blurred into red.

Finally unleashed, uncontrollable pain and fury swept through him like a firestorm, and Lance was barely aware of himself falling to his knees, his hands over his head as if to shield it from himself. The world ran red and black even behind his closed eyelids

When his mind finally cleared and his sense started trickling back, he slowly unclenched his jaw. He could feel tear tracks running down his face. He was still on his knees, and his hands were tightly closed around his bayard above his head.

Painfully and stiffly, Lance brought his hands down, and his breath hitched in his throat as he saw his bayard.

It was a broadsword.

The world around Lance seemed to turn brittle, and the air around him felt far too cold. A million words floated through his mind, even as a white ringing in his ears blocked out his ability to think.

_You’ll never be anything but a second-rate cargo pilot._

_The only reason you’re in this program is because the most gifted pilot the Garrison has ever seen dropped out. And don’t forget it._

_Don’t even bother trying to be as good as Kogane._

_Just remember, you’re no Keith._

The bayard clattered to the ground.

Lance curled up on the floor and started to cry.

* * *

 

Keith walked down the hall, the last of the sweat drying from his hair. It was no secret; he loved training. Even if he did it… alone. Normally, it took off his edge, but today, Keith was still a little wound up. An unshakable, barely noticeable tension sat between his shoulders, despite the two hour training session.

He was suddenly aware that he was clenching his teeth, and raised a hand to massage his jawline. For some reason, the last few weeks had been… strange. In fact, the most normal anything had been for a while was the morning Lance had marched into the kitchen and taken his waffle.

He’d figured, once Lance was awake, that things would go back to normal. But since then, he hadn’t seen Lance even once. He’d missed all the meals, and evening training (the look on Allura’s face had tied knots in his stomach). Keith didn’t know what to do about it, but as usual, it made him anxious.

Turning a corner, Keith jumped back in surprise as he ran facefirst into none other than Lance McClain, who was knocked back and fell over.

“Ach! Mierda!”

Keith blinked, feeling simultaneously happy to see him and annoyed that he’d ran into him. “You ever heard of something called ‘paying attention to--?’” he trailed off as he noticed Lance holding his shoulder strangely. “Why do you look weird?”

Lance turned his body away from Keith as he stood up, expression unreadable. “Seriously?! Look weird?! Says the guy with the mullet!”

Was that… red?… between his fingers? “Lance, did you… do something?”

“I was training.” The uncharacteristic flatness in his voice set Keith on edge.

“I didn’t know you trained.”

“Well, I’m sure you’re much too busy to really watch me all that much.” Lance was smiling now, but it was an eerie, twisted smile that seemed to chill the air around him.

Subconsciously getting defensive, Keith raised his arms. “Hey, it’s not my fault you can’t be bothered to even show up for group training sessions!”

Lance’s eyes narrowed, and the not-smile grew wider. “Keith, I’m trying to compliment you. After all, you’re our best paladin. You’re busy training all the time!” Although the words were kind, a cold, wild harshness danced around him as he spoke.

“I… guess so.”

Keith took an involuntary step back as Lance took a step forward, arms motioning openly in what, in Keith’s experience, had always been a friendly, happy gesture. “You know, it really is awesome how great a role model you are. Honestly, I don’t know what Voltron would do without you.”

“I… don’t think that’s true.” Keith said uneasily. Although Lance’s words were nice, Keith had never seen such a cold, shark-like expression on his face.

Keith took another step back, and Lance took another step forward, arms spread wide. Both of his hands were stained with blood. “No, really! You should hear what Shiro says about you. It really warms the heart.” Lance threw back his head and laughed, the sound harsher than Keith had ever heard from him. “Man, back at the garrison, I remember all the instructors loved you! The most talent they’d ever seen! Best flight instincts in the entire academy!” Keith’s heart beat uncharacteristically fast as Lance locked eyes with him. They were as cold as ice. “You really are something special, you know that?”

Although he and Lance often bantered and traded insults back and forth, this was nothing like Keith had ever seen, and he didn’t know what to do. Trying to step back again, Keith realized he’d backed up into the wall. “Lance, I don’t, I don’t know what you’re, you’re trying to say here.”

Lance shrugged exaggeratedly, his not-grin wider than ever. “Relaaaaaaax, Keith! I’m just telling _you_ what everyone tells _me._ ”

Forming a fist, Lance reached to give Keith what looked like a friendly punch on the arm, and Keith couldn’t take it anymore. In a quick, adrenaline-fueled rush of motion, Keith reached out and shoved Lance back. Pulse racing, Keith repositioned, and backed up towards the door.

The god-awful grin was finally off Lance’s face, and he was looking, eyes wide, at Keith. Suddenly, all the energy seemed to drain out of him, and Lance slumped down. When he looked back up, his face was broken in emotions that Keith couldn’t read.

As Keith backed up some more, Lance reached out an arm. “Wait-- Keith--”

Keith couldn’t think. He couldn’t speak. Snapping out of the shock, Keith turned and ran through the door.

* * *

 

Pidge tossed a pile of Altean bandage fabric over her shoulder and continued rummaging around in the medicine cabinet with feverish energy. “Ahahaha!”

She held up a small bottle, eyes glinting as she looked at the yellowish liquid. If Coran’s description was to be trusted (which it probably was), then this was a bottle of quintessence-infused healing proteins.

Cackling, she turned and ran towards the door. Suddenly, a hissing noise stopped her in her tracks, and she dove off to the wall as one of the healing pods opened. Clutching the bottle tightly against her chest, she eyed the pod suspiciously.

“Wh-- Lance?”

Lance looked up (or more accurately, down) at her. “Oh. Hey, Pidge. What’s…” his tone of voice changed to wariness. “What are you holding.”

“Science!” She cackled again.

Lance held up his hands. “O-h-h-h-kay.” He sidled towards the door. “I’ll, just… not be here.”

Her train of thought froze, then changed track. “Wait! No! You! Dekkos!”

He looked at her bemusedly. “What.”

Taking a deep breath in, Pidge closed her eyes and ordered her thoughts. “Dekkos. Um, they’re an Altean insect. I kinda… uh…” She trailed off, gesturing noncommittally.

Lance raised an eyebrow. “Let me guess, you started the quintessence experiment.”

“Yes! Exactly!” Thank the Lord for Lance. “Anyways, it’s only been going on for like, two days, but you need to come see it because I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Lance smiled. “Neat. Let’s corrupt some dekkos.”

As they walked down to the dekko room, Pidge explained to Lance all that had happened; the dekkos, the fight with the carrier fortress, the lion repairs, and a few other experiments. Lance was an active listener, and it was easy for her to rabbit-trail around to anything that jumped into her mind.

“Yeah, Keith’s lion was basically totaled. I mean, not really. Since the lions are, like, one of a kind. But… man, he goes hard.”

There was a longer-than-average pause before Lance responded. “Honestly, it’s one of his defining traits.”

She laughed. “You’re so right.” Suddenly, something jumped into Pidge’s mind. “Wait. Why were you in a pod? Again?”

Lance rolled his shoulder a couple times. “I was training. Did something stupid, messed up my shoulder.”

“Heh. Nice.” She frowned. “Also, why didn’t I ask until now?”

Lance grinned. “I’ve just learned not to question how your brain works.”

Pidge pressed a button, and they walked into the experiment room. “See, over there, I’ve been mixing the corrupted quintessence with regular quintessence, which Allura got for me from the Balmera crystal. Nothing exciting has happened yet. I’ve also tried to use some of the it in basic machinery, but it's been completely incompatible. I’ve studied the Castle ship’s machinery for a while now, in hopes of understanding quintessence-based mechanics, but it really does seem…”

She looked behind her. Lance was studying the vial of mixed quintessence intently. “Uh, anything interesting?”

“This is mixed quintessence, right? Corrupted and regular?”

Pidge walked over and stared at it with him. “Yep. Anything interesting?”

“Not really. It’s just mixed quintessence. I’d expect something to happen, but they’re just kinda… chilling.”

“Huh. Well, that’s boring. Anyways, come look at the dekkos.”

They walked over to the dekko chamber. Lance watched as a dekko crawled up the side of a rock. “So, you said you’d been mixing corrupted quintessence into their water supply?”

Pidge nodded. “Yep. Do they look weird?”

“Mm… nope. Actually, I can’t see any corrupted quintessence in there at all.”

Pidge grabbed her notebook. “Huh. So, do you think they have, like, some cleaning mechanism?”

“I think all creatures have some sort of defense against corrupted quintessence. Maybe they filter it out over time. It’s long-term exposure that does things. That’s how the fungus grabbed Allura and Coran.”

Excitement rose in Pidge’s chest. “Ahhhhhh! Wait, tell me what happened! Did you go unconscious too?”

Lance smiled, continuing to look into the dekko enclosure. “I went under pretty soon after you all did. Honestly, it was really freaky. The walls of fungus all came alive, tendrils full of corrupt quintessence were, like, reaching out for us. As I went under, I thought, ‘Huh, so I’ll die from being eaten by creepy alien fungus.’”

“That’s so creepy! Why do you think you stayed awake longer than we did?”

Lance’s eyes narrowed, but his never left the dekkos. “I think, since I could see the corrupted quintessence, I could kind of resist it more. As soon as the portal opened, you all were out like light switches. I was only a few seconds behind.”

“Wow.” Pidge took a moment to process the new information. “So, how do you think we all survived?”

He shrugged. “The only thing I could come up with is that the portal was really old, and hadn’t channeled so much quintessence in too long. I mean, we had to be the first people to set foot in that lab in ten-thousand years.”

“Wow.” They stood in silence for a few seconds, watching the dekkos. “So, I guess we should crank up the quintessence mixture?”

Lance continued staring at the dekkos.

“Lance?”

Still, nothing.

“Hey! Lance!”

Lance blinked, and shook his head. “Huh? What?”

“I just asked if we should raise the quintessence ratio.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I can’t see any corruption at all in here.”

“Neat.” Pidge wrote it down in her notebook. Setting it down, she looked at Lance. He was still staring at the dekkos, a pensive expression on his face. She watched him for a while. “Uh, Lance, are you… okay?”

After a few seconds, he smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I guess so.”

“That… wasn’t a ringing proclamation.” The small smile slid off his face, leaving him looking… tired. “Is there, um… something in particular that’s bothering you?”

Lance crossed his arms over his chest, as if drawing in on himself. “I was an asshole to Keith today.”

“Um… more so than usual?”

Lance side-eyed her for a second, then looked back at the dekko enclosure. “I was feeling like shit, and I took it out on Keith. And I think I scared him.”

Pidge furrowed her brows. “ _You_ … scared Keith?”

A flash of something crossed Lance’s face, but it was gone too quickly for Pidge to pinpoint it. “Yeah.”

She didn’t really know what to say. “Uh. Damn. I’m just, uh, trying to think of what you must’ve done to scare Keith. What did you do, tell him that MCR wasn’t going to get back together?”

Lance grinned, but it was gone quickly. “He caught me at a bad time, and I… kinda went after him.” He dragged his hands through his hair. “I think… Keith was finally starting to trust me, and now I’ve just fucked everything up.” He opened his mouth as if to add something, then closed it again.

Pidge’s mind worked as she tried to think of something to say. No matter what, Lance had always been _loud._ He bickered with Keith, told wild stories, and overdramatized everything, be it anger, fear, annoyance, happiness, or love. She’d never seen him so… flat. Frankly, it unnerved her. He must be pretty upset.

She’d never been great at comforting people; honestly, she’d never been great at people in general. Still, she had to try. Lord knew Lance had done it enough for her. “I guess you’re pretty worried about this.”

“I guess so.”

“Well… people fight. No matter how great of friends they are, sometimes… shit happens, you know? I mean, we basically all live together. Of course we’re going to accidentally do or say things we regret.”

Lance’s expression didn’t change, but he didn’t say anything.

“I think the important thing is that you apologize to Keith, and let him know that what happened wasn’t his fault. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

There was a long pause in the conversation before Lance replied. “Maybe so.”

They sat in silence, watching the dekkos for a while. Then, slowly, Lance leaned over and wrapped his arms around Pidge, before standing and walking out the door.

* * *

 

Allura watched as Shiro and Keith clashed again in the training room. Keith, using his broadsword, had managed to get a few nicks off on Shiro’s armor, but for the most part, Shiro had Keith on the defensive. Finally, with a block and a kick, Keith flew back into the wall.

She checked the time again. Five dobashes until evening training. Shiro and Keith had been here for a little less than a varga already, and watching them train had been a good distraction from… well, what was normally going through her head. She looked back at the door, where Pidge was checking something on her device. She had arrived without Allura noticing. That left Hunk and Lance.

As she watched, the door slid open, and Hunk walked in. A voice turned her attention back to the training room, where Shiro was standing by the door.

“Allura? You seen Lance?”

Her mouth pinched into a line. “It seems like no one knows where Lance is at any given time. Have you talked with him yet?”

Shiro nodded, wiping sweat off his brow. “Yeah, he told me he would show up today.”

The sound of a door hissing open turned their attention back around, and they watched as the final paladin walked in.

“Lance!” Allura called out. “I’m glad you’ve finally found it in yourself to train with the rest of us.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about yesterday. I… just haven’t been thinking clearly since I woke up from the pods.”

Allura fought down a wave of annoyance. “Scientifically, that’s not possible. The pods are designed only to open once the patient has been restored to full mental and physical capacity.” Lance frowned, and opened his mouth to respond, but she held up a hand to silence him. “Regardless, we aren’t here to discuss whatever issues you have.” She gestured for everyone to gather around. “Let’s begin.”

The training was simple today; a team survival exercise designed to protect a “console”-- a large pad from the workout room-- to simulate an information download. The bots would try to destroy the “console,” and the paladins would defend it for as long as possible. On a good day, they could sometimes make it to 25 minutes, but they averaged 23.

Allura watched intently as the program continued. Shiro and Keith, as usual, were working together on one side, and Hunk and Pidge held their own on the other. Lance crouched directly against the console, scoping out targets to shoot. Although he was scanning the area, he rarely took shots, perhaps because the other paladins were doing most of the work for him.

As the time ticked up, more and more bots dropped down, and the other four paladins could no longer take care of them as easily. To make up for it, Lance took more and more shots.

Allura’s brow furrowed as she watched. Lance was, for all his faults, an excellent shot. Today, though, he seemed off. One shot skidded off a bot’s arm, and another hit the wall behind. As the minutes went by, Lance’s rate of fire slowed, as if tiring out.

Finally, at 19 minutes, Lance misfired a shot that hit Shiro directly in the back. As Shiro went down, the bots on Keith’s side swarmed him down, and the rest of the paladins were taken down soon after.

Allura stood up from the control panel, and her overly tensed shoulders groaned in protest. As she rubbed them, she let out a deep, unhappy sigh. Turning, she walked down to the main room.

She turned a corner to see Lance, embarrassment written in his body language, apologizing to Shiro, who had a stony expression. Pidge and Hunk were talking separately, and Keith was standing far to the side, looking off into the distance.

“--I’m so, so sorry, I should have been more careful, I can’t believe I just--”

Shiro turned directly to face him, threateningly enough for Lance to step back. “Lance, enough! You weren’t at training yesterday, you’ve been avoiding us all day, and even before the pod, you’ve never taken this seriously!” He turned away again, and his voice took on a hard edge. “Mistakes happen, but they’d happen a lot less if you actually put any effort into this.”

Lance froze, eyes wide. After blinking twice, he looked down at the floor.

“How long did we last?” asked Pidge.

“19 minutes.”

Pidge looked over at Lance, but didn't say anything.

Allura continued. “You haven't worked together for a while, so it's understandable that you were a little rusty.” She cleared her throat. “However, Lance. Perhaps you truly are a little 'spacey’ from the pods. You'd do well to train more on your own. And it should go without saying, but you _must_ show up for group training. It is your duty as a paladin of Voltron, and a member of this team. Am I understood?”

Lance didn't meet her eyes, but he nodded. “Crystal clear.”

“Good. You all are dismissed.”

* * *

 

In the darkened hallway, Lance stood outside the door, hesitation and nervousness pulsing through him. What a fucking _awful_ day it had been. He just wanted… well, he didn't really know. He was just so tired.

Still, regardless of what he wanted, this needed to be done. Finally rallying his willpower, he raised a fist and knocked. A shuffling sound came from inside the room, and then the door opened.

Keith's eyes widened as he saw who it was, and a wave of self-hatred swept through Lance as Keith's face froze in the same expression he'd seen back in the halls.

“Wait, Keith.”

He stood, stock-still.

“I… I'm sorry. In the hallway, I was terrible to you. I was being a cruel, nasty piece of garbage and you didn't deserve any of it. I just… I'm sorry.”

Keith's eyes were downcast, and his face was still painfully expressionless. “It was my fault. I shouldn't have insulted you. Besides, you… didn't…” he trailed off.

Lance stared at him. “No, it wasn't. It wasn't your fault at all. Keith, I was an _asshole._ Just because you didn't understand what was going on doesn't make it any better. I intentionally went after you, and I went after you in a way that you didn't have the skills to defend yourself from.” He could feel his hands shake, from tiredness and maybe from something else as well, as he struggled with what to say.

Keith whispered something, but it was too soft for Lance to make out.

“You didn't do anything at all wrong, Keith. I should have been a better teammate, and a better friend. You have… every right to not forgive me.”

Keith spoke again, still quiet, but loud enough for Lance to hear. “I just… it was like… you were saying things, and doing things, and- and it was you, but it- it _wasn't--_ and I didn't know what to _do--_ ” His voice broke, and he stopped talking.

Lance's heart broke, and a wave of shame swept over him. Reaching out a hand to Keith's shoulder, he eased him slowly into a hug. “It was me, but it was me being a terrible, awful piece of garbage to one of my best friends in the universe because I felt like shit.” Keith slowly reciprocated to hug, burying his head in Lance's chest. Lance could feel him shaking. “Truth is, you probably are our best paladin. And you really do have incredible flight instincts. And frankly, you're an amazing role model as well, and anyone would be an idiot to disagree.”

In the darkened hallway, they stayed like that for a while.

* * *

 

-Next Day-

Down in the armory training room, Lance held up the broadsword for Jaxeen to examine.

She looked at it, eyes wide. “That's an impressive sword. Didn't you say you could only form long range weapons?”

He attempted a grin. “It's a recent development. I was hoping, since you seem familiar with swords, you'd be able to give me a few pointers.”

Jaxeen smiled. “Well, I suppose It’d behoove me to invest in the survival of Voltron’s sniper.” She gestured to Lance's feet. “First off, your feet need to react to everything that happens. It's extremely important to brace your weight for hits, or dodge entirely out of the way.”

He looked down at his feet, and widened his stance a bit.

“Of course, the best way to learn is to try it out. I'll defend, and you swing at me.”

For the next two hours, Jaxeen helped Lance learn how to fight with the broadsword. At first, he had no idea what he was doing, but Jaxeen did her best to teach him, and by the end he could at least defend and dodge somewhat effectively.

After the session, they sat down on the bench, both breathing heavily. Lance took of his helmet. “Thanks for teaching me.”

“No problem.” Jaxeen rummaged around in her workout bag, took out a large glass jar of water, and took a drink. “Honestly, I’m kind of surprised no one had taught you before.”

“Our bayards are our only weapons, since carrying anything else doesn’t work well with our suits. Just recently, Shiro and Allura have started a program that’s supposed to help each of the paladins improve a lot at one-on-one combat, so that we can all hold our own separately, but when you only have access to long range weapons…” he shrugged.

They sat in silence for a while, until Jaxeen spoke again. “So, do you mind if I ask how you ended up becoming a paladin?”

“Nah, not at all.” He paused to gather his thoughts. “Actually, all five of us are from the same planet. Back when Altea fell, Alfor-- the king, and the red paladin-- sent the lions to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, to hide them from the Galra. The blue lion ended up hidden on Earth.”

“And you just ended up finding it?”

“Well, kind of. Do you… know about Shiro?”

“Everyone knows about Shiro. He was the Galra champion of the arena pits. The arena pits are… well, they’re a primary form of entertainment within the empire. I’ve seen galra children carrying around little action figures of him.”

He looked at Jaxeen curiously. “I didn’t know that.”

She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I guess you don’t know much about the empire. Er, no offense.”

“Nah, you’re right. Anyways, Shiro ended up escaping the pits with… well, he won’t say, but I think he had help. He traveled all the way to earth, and crash landed next to a space navigation facility. Events kind of fell together, and all five of us discovered the blue lion’s hiding place. We didn’t know what it was then, of course, but it responded to my touch, and let us all in. I sat down in the pilot’s chair, and I… I felt her, in my mind. I guess that’s when I technically became a paladin.”

Jaxeen was looking at him, clearly deep in thought. “When rumors started to spread that Voltron was back, I had to research what it even was. When I found out that it was a 10,000 phoeb-old legend, I laughed it off.” She looked up at the ceiling of the training room. “But, here we are.”

He laughed. “Yeah, tell me about it. On our planet, we didn’t even know alien life existed.”

“How’d they react?”

Lance furrowed his brows in confusion, then realized what she was saying. “Oh. They, still don’t know actually. We left… pretty suddenly.” An icy coldness was forming in his stomach. “I never even got to say goodbye to my family.”

Jaxeen’s eyes widened. “But-- did you-- can you not send them messages?”

“Right now, Haggar and Zarkon only know that Shiro is from Earth. If a message gets traced from the castle ship to Earth, the empire would probably target our families to control us.” He barked out a cold, lifeless laugh. “We decided it wasn’t worth the risk.”

She looked down. “I’m… so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Lance looked at the ground. “It is what it is. Certainly isn’t your fault.”

They sat in silence for a while longer. Then, Jaxeen leaned over and gave him a short hug, before standing up. “If you want, you can come back to the ship bay with me for lunch. Everyone would love to have you.”

He tried for a smile. “Thanks, but there’s a group training session with the rest of the paladins. I’ve missed a few, and Shiro and Allura haven’t been too happy with me recently. But, thanks for offering.”

She looked at him for a few seconds. “Okay, well, maybe dinner?”

“I’ll see if I can make it.”

She offered him one last smile, before turning and walking out the door.

* * *

 

Breathing heavily, Hunk slowly sat up and checked the timer on his wristpiece. 22 minutes.

Beside him, Shiro got to his feet. “Good job, paladins. That was much better than yesterday. Lance, especially, you did excellent.”

Lance, who was already standing, just shrugged. “Anything would have been better than yesterday.”

Pidge reached out a hand, and Lance helped her up. “We’re not quite back to our original average, but that’s probably just because we’re out of practice.”

Hunk stood up and looked over to Keith, who was still breathing heavily and laying on the floor. “Hey, bud, you did great!” He reached out a hand, and Keith took it.

Together, they walked up to the main room, where Allura was waiting for them, and sat down on the couch. It could have been Hunk’s imagination, but she seemed more tense than usual.

“Good job, paladins. While that was certainly better than last night, we’re still not quite back to where we were. I am sure, however, that training will remedy that.” She looked at each of them individually. “Does anyone have any observations to note?”

After most training sessions, they discussed potential ideas and improvements, and Allura shared what she’d observed about the session.

“Lance did very well today,” Shiro said, looking at Lance and smiling. “I don’t think he missed a shot even once.”

Hunk quickly glanced at Lance to gauge his reaction, but Lance didn’t look up.

There was a small chorus of ‘good job’s before Shiro continued. “Other than that, I think we’ll have to wait until we’re back to full before we can work on improving overall.” He stood up. “Allura, is there any news from the coalition scouts about our current situation?”

She nodded. “Indeed there is.” Tension seeped into the air as she continued. “The galra are on the move. Scouts have reported sightings of multiple battleships, several cruisers, and a carrier fortress amassing not far from a coalition system called Andún. According to estimations, they will be in position in less than thirty vargas.”

Hunk watched as the paladins traded nervous glances. That was a substantial fleet.

“Why do you think they’re targeting Andún? What makes that system special?” asked Pidge.

“We believe that Andún is not actually the primary focus of the offensive.” Allura explained. “Andún is one of the coalition’s border planets.” Border planets were planets on the edge of galra space, with top-of-the-line (outside of empire technology) defenses. “As you all know, the border planets are vital to the coalition’s defense network, due to their advanced surveillance capabilities. If the galra take this system, they will be able to move freely in the sector.”

For the first time, Lance raised his head. “So, what’s in the sector that they want?”

“We believe they want to control the celestial grove.”

Wait… why was that term familiar? Had Hunk heard that before somewhere? “Should I… know what that is?”

Allura turned to look at him. “A celestial grove is a cluster of stars that have extremely strong quintessential auras. This quintessential ‘atmosphere,’ so to speak, is the only suitable habitat for the orbital plant life that balmera feed on.”

Oh! He must have heard it from Shay’s tribe on their balmera.

“Celestial groves are exceedingly rare in the known universe,” Allura continued, “and this is the only one in coalition territory.”

Pidge frowned. “So, if the galra controlled this one, would they control all of them?”

“All in explored space,” Allura replied. “Among the wild stars, there may be more, but only three are known, and the other two are deep within galra territory.” A shadow of something sad crossed her face. “At least, there were three. I do not know their fate after ten thousand phoebs of galra rule.”

Hunk shuddered. Under Zarkon’s control, they might very well be decimated by now.

“Balmera are a valuable resource for the castle ship, and for coalition technology. Should we lose the balmera, we could eventually lose functionality of the castle ship.” She looked around. “Which, I think we can agree, would be a disaster.”

Keith raised a hand. “How many balmera are there?”

“There are five balmera in coalition territory. I do not know how many are controlled within the empire.” She turned to look at Hunk. “Coran is prepping for wormhole. Hunk, Lance… you will be our only two lions when the galra attack. Myself, Coran, and the rest of the paladins will back you up using the castle weaponry.”

Anxiety curled in his stomach as she spoke. “Well… we'll have Andún’s planetary defenses, right?”

She nodded. “Yes, but coalition technology is still centuries behind the empire. We are the system's first, and best, defense.”

“Princess…” Lance raised his head again. “I don't mean to be pessimistic, but that's a very large fleet. Is Andún capable of dealing with it?”

Her eyes darkened. “They do not have a choice. Should Andún fall, the galra will not only gain control of the grove, they will also be positioned to spearhead an offensive into lesser defended sectors.”

Lance narrowed his eyes, his face angular in its seriousness. “And what do we do if Andún does fall?”

Allura raised a single eyebrow. “Do you intend to let it?"

A muscle flexed in his jaw, but he didn't respond.

The knot of anxiety in Hunk's stomach twisted as the tension in the room thickened.

“Given the imminent threat, there will be no training tomorrow. You are all dismissed.”

* * *

 

“…”

“…god-damn…”

“…”

“…if I can just…”

“…”

“OHMYGOD WHAT THE FU-- Keith?! Ohmygod okay it’s just Keith. Keith. What the everloving fuck are you doing.”

“I-- uh-- uhm-- sorry.”

“I-- you know what. Why am I even surprised. It’s fine. Why are you down here? And why are you even awake?”

“I… uh, sorry. Again. I just, um. Wanted to ask… is Lance… okay?”

“You. You almost gave me a heart attack. Because you want. To make sure Lance is okay.”

“…”

“You know you could have asked Hunk.”

“I, uh, already did. He’s, um, kinda in the dark.”

“…oh. That’s… a little weird. I thought Lance told Hunk everything.”

“Yeah, I, uh, thought so too.”

“…”

“…”

“Honestly… I’m a little worried about him. I… I don’t know. I think… well, I know probably more than most people. But I still feel like I don’t know anything, y’know? When it comes to Lance…”

“Allura and Shiro are… really hard on him. I mean, I think Shiro was trying to apologize for last night during today’s training, but… I don’t think anyone other than me would notice that.”

“Oh. That would explain all the random compliments.”

“…”

“…”

“Do you… ever get the feeling that something’s… building up?”

“Wow, okay that’s super ominous.”

“Oh. Well, uh… never mind.”

“…er, I was just making a comment. I still want to hear what you’re thinking.”  

“I guess… I dunno, it just seems like… this just isn’t a good pattern.”

“Yeah, I feel the same way. Shiro and Allura just kinda decided that Lance was a goof and an idiot, and… I don’t know what will change their minds. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Lance loves to joke and play around, but… there’s way more to him than that.”

“…huh. So, do you think we should be… doing something about it?”

“I tried talking to Shiro. It went… spectacularly poorly, actually. I don’t know. Maybe you’d have more luck with him.”

“I… I don’t think so. Ever since Shiro came back, he’s been… more distant. He won’t talk to me as much. Especially about… that time. But about everything else, too.”

“Weren’t you guys… really close?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m… really sorry about that, man. I… I wish I knew how to… help, I guess.”

“…”

“…”

“Well, I should, um, sleep. Thanks for… talking, I guess.”

“Yeah, of course, Keith. Anytime.”

* * *

 

Hunk rolled over in his bed again. Frustration rose in him, and he sat up and blinked away the darkness. Stretching resignedly, he walked over to his door, and out into the hallway. Clearly, he wasn’t getting any sleep tonight.

Arriving in the kitchen, he turned on a small overhead light, and got out some flour, sugar, and other various baking ingredients. He worked mindlessly, letting the motions gradually dull the static in his mind.

He worked in silence for a while. He set the dough in an Altean hastener, and turned around to see a dark figure leaning against the door frame.

His heart sped up automatically, but as his eyes scanned the figure, he realized it was just Lance, wearing his robe.

Upon being noticed, Lance stepped into the room and sat down at the table. “Couldn't sleep either?”

“Nope.”

A beep sounded from the hastener, and Hunk turned and brought out the dough, which was now fully risen. Spreading flour on the counter and on his hands, he began to knead the dough into spirals, working silently in the dim light.

“Cinnamon rolls?” Lance asked, now standing beside him.

Hunk nodded, and Lance began mixing cinnamon, sugar, and butter in a bowl beside him. They worked together in silence for a while, methodically rolling and packing the rolls into the pan.

“I'm sorry I've been such a shit friend.” The voice cut through the silence, flat and expressionless as slate.

“You've been stressed.”

“Doesn’t excuse it.”

They worked together a while longer before Lance spoke again. “I looked at Andún’s defense network.”

Coran had made sure to press for the castle to have access to all the coalition planets’ security files, for strategic purposes. As far as Hunk knew, Lance was the only paladin on board other than Shiro who made use of it. “What's the verdict?”

“Kinetically charged planetary shield. Impenetrable except with specialized shield drilling ships. Strong ionic artillery. Decent military fleet.” There was a moment of silence before Lance continued. “Not enough to hold against a carrier fortress with strong support.”

Tension settled in Hunk’’s stomach as he packed the last roll into the pan. “Even with the castle and the lions?”

“If we could somehow destroy the carrier fortress, we could do it,” Lance said, turning on the sink. “If we can defend the generator complex for long enough, we might get the advantage just by whittling them down.”

“Do you think that's likely?” Hunk asked, trying to keep his tone light as he passed Lance dishes to wash.

“Allura thinks so.” The tone of his voice didn't change, but Hunk could practically taste the darkness in the room.

“I’m more interested in what you think,” Hunk replied cautiously.

I…” his voice broke, and for the first time in the conversation, Hunk could hear  uncertainty haunting his words. “I don't know.” He leaned down over the sink, eyes shut tight in the dim light. “13 billion lives, and ‘I don’t know’ is the best I can do,” he said, a mirthless grin on his face.

Hunk stopped moving. Leaning over, he draped his arms around Lance. Instead of giving into the hug like he usually did, Lance stiffly held the same position, as if something was holding him back. A barely noticeable shiver ran through his slim body.

“I--” the word hitched in Lance’s throat, and he paused for a second. “Why?”

A deep, heavy sadness settled over the room. He knew where this was going, but he asked anyway. “Why what?”

“I--” inwardly, Hunk winced at the tremor in his best friend’s voice. “I’m a terrible person. Nothing I do is good enough for Allura. Shiro-- Shiro doesn’t like me.” He choked out a laugh. “What does-- what does that say, about me, if even-- if even Shiro doesn’t like me.”

He twisted his head to the side, and Hunk could feel the stress in his muscles. “I didn’t-- I didn’t even notice when-- notice when Pidge was-- so, so _scared, on that mission, and she, she’s only fifteen--”_

He paused again, bringing a hand up to his face and angrily wiping it across. “And-- and K-Keith, I-- I went after him, I was, I was fucking-- mean, and horrible, and f-fucking sadistic just because I-- I felt like-- like shit and I-- _Díos_ _lo que está mal conmigo--”_

The unsteadiness in his voice broke Hunk’s heart as he continued. “And-- and you-- you’re my best friend, and you-- you’re s-so important to me, b-but I-- I’ve been-- sh-shutting you out and-- and avoiding you b-because I’ve been t-terrible to you, I’ve been k-keeping secrets and n-not telling you anything and god it f-feels-- it feels awful and-- I’m stressed, and I’m scared and I’m lonely and I’m terrible but-- but mostly--”

Lance was crying, and Hunk could feel a tear trace down his own face. “I’m just… so… _tired._ ” Although Lance whispered the last word, it seemed to pierce through the cold, dark room and settle like dust on his very soul.

“Oh, buddy,” Hunk murmured, swaying gently as he held Lance, still shaking, in the hug. “C’mere.” Finally, slowly, Lance leaned into the embrace, clearly too exhausted to care.

Moving gently, Hunk manipulated Lance into a comfortable piggyback position, and plodded back to his room, where he laid Lance down on his bed. Draping an arm softly over him, Hunk closed his eyes. With the steady tempo of Lance's breathing as he slept, his own breath soon evened out, and his mind faded into unconsciousness.


	14. The Battle of Andún

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just forgot?? to tag Keith??? Anyways, I fixed that and updated the tags while I was at it. I also upped the rating. I use curses fairly frequently, and that whole quintessence controlled Kyrick thing I feel like probably deserves the upped rating.  
> I also noticed something funny about my writing style-- I just love to use actions to segway into other actions (example: "Reaching out a doomed hand, Sans from undertale fell, screaming, into the dark abyss") and i use it. way too much. So I've had to forcibly restrain myself from doing that for multiple sentences in a row. Don't get me wrong, it's a good tool, but repetition kills a story, at least in my opinion (maybe I should apply that to my plot line as well lol).  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

-Next Day-

Hunk woke up to a coldness on one side of his bed. Opening his eyes slowly, he stretched out, and felt nothing where Lance should have been. As he adjusted to being awake, he slowly sat up. Lance, it seemed, had woken up first, which was unusual. He smirked sardonically; as if anything was usual right now.

The sound of running water turned his attention to his bathroom, and a sense of relief brushed through him. So Lance was still here. Standing up, he walked over to the bathroom. The door was still open. Hunk cleared his throat before looking in. “You decent?”

“Yeah.”

Hunk walked through the door, and promptly froze in shock. “Um.” He blinked twice. “Uh.”

Lance was standing next to the sink, eyes closed. One hand was raised in front of his face, and his brow was furrowed in concentration. Around him, ribbons of water twirled lazily in the air, defying any and all laws of physics that Hunk knew. The water coming out of the faucet, instead of draining into the sink, was being pulled into the impossible display.

As he watched, Lance opened his eyes, and stretched his arm out in front of him. The water floating around him gathered into one large orb above the sink. Lance dropped his arm, and the water fell down into the sink, and everywhere around it, with a splash. He flinched back as the water splashed over him. Eyes wide, his gaze darted over to Hunk. “…that wasn’t intentional.”

With some effort, Hunk closed his open mouth. “So, uh, do I just need more sleep, or…”

“Um. I mean. Probably. But… no. That actually happened.” Looking supremely awkward, Lance stretched out his arm again, and some of the water on the floor floated up and into the sink. “Um. I just. Didn’t really know how to tell you.”

Hunk nodded absently, his mind simultaneously short circuited and in overdrive. “Right. Okay. So. How long has this been going on?”

“Few weeks,” mumbled Lance, still looking like a deer in headlights.

“And… am I the only one who knows about this.”

“Um… kind of. Coran knows. Pidge knows… a little.”

They stared at each other, neither really sure what to say.

Lance gestured awkwardly towards a towel. “So… I’m just… going to clean this up…”

Hunk continued to stand in the doorway and nodded. “Well. Thanks.”

He watched as Lance mopped up the the remaining water up from the floor, and took the opportunity to process through the shock. As soon as Lance stood up, Hunk walked over to him and grabbed him, looking directly into his eyes. “Alright. I am turning on the space TV, turning the channel to a dumb old person pawn show, and you are going to tell me everything. From the beginning.”

Lance nodded mutely, his eyes wide.

But first, the necessities. Hunk raised a finger. “Now, wait here while I go to the kitchen and return with some cinnamon rolls.”

* * *

 

Pidge stared through the window into the training room, her arms crossed and her brow furrowed. Inside, Shiro was training against two high level gladiators, one wielding a large flail, the other with a sword and shield. As far as combat went, Shiro was far and away the best of anyone on the ship. He was quick, strong, and most importantly, had incredible instincts honed by years in the arena pits.

Her mind backtracked a bit; it was not, of course, as if the experience he had received was in any way worth the amount of suffering he had been put through. Truthfully, none of them really knew what the arena was like… but Shiro’s silence was an indicator that there were, perhaps, some things they didn’t need to know.

She watched as the flail bot swung at Shiro’s waist. Behind him, the bot with the sword bashed forward with shield. Avoiding both, Shiro darted forward inside the guard of the flail bot, slashing up its chest as it fought to regain control of the swung flail. In response to the opening, the bot with the sword swung forward at Shiro’s undefended back. With speed that Pidge could barely see, Shiro swung the body of the flail bot around to tank the sword. As soon as the sword bit, Shiro shoved them both back, and dove in for the killing blow, leaving both corpses sparking on the ground.

No, the experience certainly wasn’t worth the suffering… however.

Shiro stood up straight, wiped the sweat from his brow, and looked around. Noticing her, he waved, then turned and walked over to a bottle of water set off to the side of the room. While he took a drink, the sound of a door hissing open turned Pidge’s attention, and she looked back to see Allura enter the room.

Upon seeing her, Allura smiled. “Ah, Pidge. Conveniently enough, I was hoping to talk to you as well as Shiro and Keith. I assume you have the time.”

Perhaps this was about the fight? “Yeah, totally, Princess. What do you need to talk about?”

“I don’t wish to repeat myself, so I will save the particulars for all three of you, but since your lions are all out of commission, there are other ways we believe you can be of service.”

Pidge looked down as she pondered that information. What other ways were there to be useful outside of Voltron? She had to admit, it was a relief to hear; she hadn’t been looking forward to standing around uselessly while Hunk and Lance fought for their lives. Maybe it had something to do with castle weaponry? Or perhaps coordination with Andún’s--

“Pidge? Hey? Pidge.” Snapping fingers shook her out of her thoughts.

She blinked a couple times and looked up to see Shiro. “Er, aren’t we waiting for--”

The sound of the door once again pulled her attention, and she turned to see Keith and Coran walking in.

 _Well, speak of the devil._ Allura walked over to the couches, and gestured for everyone to sit down. Coran stood beside her, expression serious.

“Please, sit down. As you all know, our battle for Andún is looming ever closer. And as you all know, Hunk and Lance are our only operational paladins at the moment.” Her eyes darkened. “It is crucial that we provide them with all the support we can. To this end, Coran will be teaching you three to man castle support systems that, until now, have gone unused, as we have had no one to operate them.”

Coran stepped forward. “If you will all follow me to the bridge, we had best begin immediately.”

* * *

 

Hunk and Lance sat alone in the game room. Light from Andún’s star shone faintly through the vast windows, and fairy lights and couches with blankets and pillows lent a relaxing, comfortable appeal to the room. In the background, a pawn show played on T.V., the faint white noise lost in the background as Hunk listened to Lance ramble on.

“…and that’s when I lost consciousness. When I woke up from the pod, Coran told me it had been over a week. It must have been quintessence exhaustion. That was when he confronted me about… this whole thing. I’ve been slowly building back up to where I was at before, but I have to be careful not to strain myself, or I get really bad headaches.”

Hunk listened silently from the other side of the couch.

Lance shifted over and grabbed another cinnamon roll. “The reason I haven’t been around at all is because I’ve been spending a lot of time with the Romija. When Coran confronted me about my quintessence abilities, he told me about a second, military specific training room down in the Castle’s armory.”

Hunk cocked his head. “Military specific?”

“The castle has an armory on one of the lower floors. It’s a little inconvenient for us, and I think that’s why we don’t already use it. But, apparently it can help me train better.” He looked down. “The day after I woke up, I went down to see what it was like, and I met one of the Romija sparring. Her name’s Jaxeen, and we hit it off pretty well. We tried sparring together, but I was more drained than I thought I was, and ended up going unconscious.

“When I woke up, I was in a Romija ship. Jaxeen didn’t really know what to do with me, so she carried me down to the ship bay where they’re staying, and I ended up having dinner with them. From that point on, I’ve been spending a lot of time with them.”

Hunk nodded. “Coran said they seemed really nice.”

“They are. Also, their leader, the Grandmother, took one look at me and could somehow tell that I was really low on quintessence. She made me drink a smoothie that I’m pretty sure is helping me recover, and gave me a necklace that she said would help me fight without… I don't know, probably passing out again.” He absentmindedly touched a necklace decorated with blue and green shells, with a tooth as its pendant. “I don’t know how, but it has quintessence in it. I don’t know if the quintessence alone does something, or if it’s some sort of enchantment that makes it work.”

Hunk shrugged. He had absolutely no idea how quintessence worked. He and Pidge had spent weeks’ worth of research on how to integrate quintessence into machinery, but they’d had no success in either integration or comprehension. “Pidge and I have tried to understand how quintessence works with the Castle, and the lions, but neither of us have gotten anywhere. I wish I could help.”

They sat in silence for a while, the background noise of the T.V. playing comfortably in the background.

“So,” Hunk said slowly, “last night you told me how you felt about your relationships with your teammates. I understand all of them… except Keith.” As soon as the name left Hunk’s mouth, he saw Lance stiffen. “Do you… want to talk about it?”

Silently, Lance shook his head.

A sliver of sadness pierced through him. “Well… if you ever change your mind, I’m always here.”

Lance nodded, and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sound of a door opening. Both of them turned to see Shiro walk into the game room.

“Wow, it sure is dim in here. What are you watching?”

They shared a glance, then Hunk turned to look back at Shiro. “Just an alien pawn show. What are you down here for?”

Shiro walked over to an armchair and sat down. “I just wanted to make sure you two were up to date on everything that’s going on.”

Hunk cocked his head to the side. “Would we not be?”

“Well, since Keith, Pidge, and I can’t use our lions in this fight, Coran has taught us how to operate some of the Castle’s additional support systems. They certainly aren’t as powerful as our lions, but they’ll certainly help us out a lot.”

Hunk nodded. “That’s definitely good to know. What sort of systems will you be working?”

“Pidge is operating a projectable shield system. She’ll be able to conjure shields all around the battlefield. I’m operating an A.I. drone system. It isn’t very strong outright, but I’ll be able to support Andún’s military fleet with Altean combat and defense drones. The lions are too fast for the drones to help, though, so they won’t affect you too much. Keith is operating the missile systems.”

Hunk sat and thought about that for a few seconds. Those sounded pretty formidable. He’d never thought about it, but the Castle was an Altean flagship. No wonder it would have diverse combat capabilities.

For the first time, Lance joined the conversation. “Why haven’t we always had these systems?”

“Coran and Allura are usually the only ones able to man any castle systems, and they man the two most important ones,” Shiro explained. “Allura is at the controls, and emergency function, and Coran operates energy weapons. The others just go unused since we have no one to operate them.”

Lance frowned, but he didn’t speak again.

Shiro stood up. “Well, I had best get back to the bridge. Unless there was something else you two wanted to talk about?” When there was no response, he turned through the doorway. “Well, good luck out there today. Fly like no one’s watching.”

Once he’d left the room, Hunk turned back to Lance. “Maybe we should get ready too. We don’t know when the Galra will move, and another bite to eat couldn’t hurt.”

Lance nodded, still silent, a dark, serious expression on his face. As Hunk stood and walked out of the room, he couldn’t shake it from his mind.

* * *

 

As soon as he walked into the hangar, excitement and warmth flowed over him, relaxing him in a way he hadn’t known he’d needed. _Cub!_

“Hey, Blue. Sorry I haven’t seen you since I woke up from the pod.”

A feeling of friendly barbing gently prodded at him, wrapped in love. _I have the complaining of my siblings to listen to._ Lance couldn’t tell, but he thought he heard a weak growl from Red’s hangar. A muted sense of seriousness dampered Blue’s excitement. _Their last fight was hard._

“Yeah… I heard. I don’t mean to worry you, but… today’s fight will be harder.”

_Ever since we warped, I have wondered. You may know more about the statistics than I do._

“We’re fighting a carrier fortress, and a strong support fleet. The system is Andún, a heavily defended border system. It’ll be… really hard.”

Grim resolve flowed through the bond. _Then we shall fight hard._ The resolve wavered as Blue felt his own uncertainty. _You think we could lose._

“I… I don’t know, Blue. We’re up against some really, really tough odds.”

 _Then we shall… do what we can._ She was unsettled, but she was no stranger to loss.

A weight of expectation gradually lifted from Lance’s chest as Blue comforted him. At least, out of everyone, Blue knew… well, she understood.

They sat together for a while, their thoughts wandering around to anything other than the looming battle, until a piercing alarm cut through the silence, making them both jump. Determination solidified through the bond, and Lance stood up, slipping his helmet over his head.

“Well, Blue, I guess it’s time to take some names.”

Blue stood, machinery whirring. Her tail flicked behind her as she paced out of her hangar, posture tall and graceful. Her head turned and her proud eyes settled on Lance.

_Shall we not kick ass first?_

A huge grin spread across Lance's face, and, the tension broken, a thrum of confidence pulsed through them.

If lions could laugh, Blue was certainly laughing as she bolted out the main hangar into space. Lance ran after her, his suit pressurizing as he leapt into open space, and into Blue's open mouth.

Taking the pilot's seat, Lance flew out in front of the castle and opened the comms. “Allura, what's the situation?”

“Lance, excellent timing. There are multiple cloaked signatures descending on Andún’s shields. They appear to be converging towards the continental shield generator. Is Hunk with you?”

A third voice joined the channel, breathing heavily. “I'm on my way to the hangar right now. I'll be ready in a dobash.”

“Good. Lance, I’ve uploaded the cloaked signature locations, destroy them as quickly as possible. We suspect them to be shield drillers, and it's likely that they are attempting to sabotage the shields.”

“Sure thing, Allura.” Turning, Blue looked down at Andún, drawing in the ship locations Allura had supplied. Speeding down, Lance was soon skimming over the shield. As they got into range, Blue activated her sonar mapping, and the ships appeared in view.

“Can confirm, those are definitely small shield drillers. Attacking now.”

With a roar, Blue fired a beam of ice, freezing over two out of the eight ships. Instantly, the other six ships uncloaked and turned tail, engines firing up. With little difficulty, Lance fired energy shots at the remaining six ships, taking them out easily. As the debris scattered through open space, the comms crackled with Allura’s voice.

“Lance, Hunk, the rest of the galra fleet is descending on Andún now! Your primary objective is to prevent the galra from piercing the shield. Andún’s fleet is engaging now. We can also expect Coalition reinforcements in a varga or two. Do as much damage to the galra fleet as possible; if you are needed elsewhere, I will alert you. The other paladins are also on the comms, so do not hesitate to call for aid. We will do what we can.”

Lance turned Blue to look towards the galra fleet. Like a tidal wave, the fleet was crashing down towards him, and Andún. Like a deer in headlights, Lance froze.

He shook his head to snap out of the stupor, and shot forward to meet the incoming fleet, firing off a preliminary set of energy shots into the swarm. From the corner of his eye, Lance saw another flash of energy shots fire into the galra fleet.

“Alright, I’m ready to go, Lance! I’ll cover fire and try to occupy any major weapons, so go crazy.”

“Awesome! Welcome to the fight, bud. I’m going after the nearest dreadnought-class battleship. Pidge, do you copy?”

A new voice came in over the comms. “Here and ready to supply all of your shield-related needs. What do you want?”

“Can you program the shields to stay projected around Blue? And do they work with the lions’ weapons?”

“The shields operate well with everything except the quintessence weaponry. So no ice beam. Everything else works fine though, and I can program them to stay around the lions, although there is a bit of lag. Can’t fix that, sorry.”

Lance cursed as a first wave of fighters engaged him. “Okay, well forget it, then. I’ll update you if I need anything,” he said as he darted upwards to avoid a flurry of light energy shots.

As he fired back at the fighters, three close-set explosions detonated behind and to the left of Blue, right where they had been barely a second before. The battleship was targeting them. Lance grit his teeth. Time for some fancy flywork.

Spiraling left to avoid two energy beams, Lance darted upwards to the underbelly of the massive battleship. Although carrier fortresses were far, far larger, the dreadnought-class battleships still dwarfed any of the lions, and the largest could outsize even the castle. Luckily, Blue’s sonars could map out the outer layer of any galra ship, which often revealed something Lance could exploit.

Dodging another energy beam, Lance glanced over the map, confirming what he needed to through their bond. A major power line ran to the engines, and was near the surface near the stern of the ship. Grinning, Lance and Blue spun around towards the back of the ship, darting between large and small engine outputs. While he certainly couldn’t destroy a ship without Voltron, or at least access to the ship’s energy core, he could certainly disable it for the rest of the fight with a well-placed freeze ray.

Reaching the part of the ship’s hull where the major power line ran, Lance held in position with the freeze ray. Hidden by the massive energy output of the battleship’s engines, Lance took the reprieve to check back in. “Allura, how’re things going?”

“Andún’s own defense system has held off most of the shield drillers, and we’ve picked off the rest. Thus far, we’re holding well. Hunk has provided excellent cover fire, and I take it you’re almost finished with that battleship?”

A sickening crack emanated from within the battleship, and the engines abruptly faded as the power network broke down. “Yep, just fi--” Lance cut off as a barrage of missiles, energy shots, and beams instantly cascaded towards him. Dashing up and out, he spun around, taking evasive maneuvers as he spoke to Allura. “Just finished.”

“Lance… you’re in quite deep. There is a carrier a short distance away, be careful.”

Carriers, full of smaller ships that could easily overwhelm Lance’s lion through his dodge-and-weave style, were certainly something to avoid. “How many are there in the system, Allura?”

“Fifty dreadnought class, a few hundred cruiser class, and of course the fortress. Blue has access to the information relayed from Andún, so be sure to keep an eye out.”

“Copy. I’m going to keep trying to take down battleships.”

Lance tuned out the comms for a while as he worked. The second battleship was a different model than the last, and while its power system was better integrated, coolant lines ran too near the surface in several locations. Another had a drive system that easy to punch through, and another had a gravitational generator that couldn’t handle extreme cold. A few were designed well enough to deter Lance altogether, but most were of similar or identical models.

Ducking and weaving past fighters, and occasionally firing back, Lance was working on his twelfth battleship when a massive white explosion erupted in the middle of the battlefield, forcing Lance to close his eyes until his helmet adjusted.

“Allura, this is Lance, what the hell was that explosion?” Another one went off, and this time Lance was able to see it engulf an Andúnian dreadnought. “It just took out a dreadnought!”

“They’re coming from the carrier fortress. I think they’re some sort of gravitational weapon that’s essentially atomizing the detonation area. Pidge’s shields are blocking many of them, and I believe the lion’s defenses are enough to take a direct blast from them, but let’s not test the theory.”

“Alright, gotcha.” Lance checked the map. Sure enough, the carrier fortress was decently close to his position, and was getting closer and closer to Andún, presumably attempting to maneuver into the center of the action. Although carrier fortresses could reign terror down on their foes from a distance, they also had mid-to-short range weaponry capable of handling armies as well. And without Voltron to engage it head-on…

A tentative, optimistic, and entirely insane plan was forming in Lance’s head. Since the battle was increasingly close to the carrier fortress, there would be tons of activity in the area, providing him with enough cover, if he played it right, to do something without the enemy catching on. All the dreadnought-class ships were powered by extremely powerful and extremely volatile quintessence cores that were located roughly in the center of the ship. Blue could fly herself without his help, although her weapons systems would be crippled. Could they…?

Lance looked again at the map. Although he’d taken out eleven battleships, there were still hundreds more, and the closer the Galra fleet got, the harder it would be to defend. Although Hunk had strong enough weapons to trade fire with dreadnoughts, it would take Lance far longer. As a part of Voltron, Lance could easily sway the battle, but… alone? Truthfully, he and Blue weren’t powerful enough to do much other than gather information, no matter how many dreadnoughts he took down.

But if he could disable a carrier fortress…

Through the bond, Blue was on the same track. Although they both knew it was dangerous, what choice did they have? Within seconds, the decision was made. Skimming under one of the massive ship bays of the carrier fortress, Blue fired a huge barrage of flares and explosives. Within a second after firing, she spun over, paws facing the ship bay, and opened her mouth.

As Blue’s cockpit de-pressurized, Lance let the force catapult him towards the bay, explosions and flares covering his vision as they rained destruction on the galra ship bay.

Metal debris falling down around him, Lance landed gracefully in the hanger, ducking around the ruins of the unlaunched galran ships. Amid the wreckage, he took in his surroundings, attempting to see through the chaos he’d caused. He activated his bayard and shot a stun bolt at a nearby galra soldier that looked about his size. Quickly, Lance dragged him behind a ruined ship and hastily took off his armor in favor of the galra’s. He tucked his bayard underneath the suit, and slung a rifle over his back like the other pilots he’d seen. Hopefully, no one would look twice.

Disguise in place, Lance put his own armor on the galra, and shoved him unceremoniously out of the ship bay and into open space, filling in Blue on the situation. Blue would catch him, thus saving the armor (and the unfortunate galra soldier), and Lance would be able to travel, uncompromised, through the carrier fortress. Running out from behind the ruined ship, Lance followed the rest of the evacuees through the bay doors, and into the fortress of his enemies.

* * *

 

 

“Pidge, how many of those detonations are you able to shield?” Allura asked, surveying the map. A million calculations were running through her mind, and for once, she felt confident as the battle raged on.

“They’re being fired at a slower rate than my shields can be projected, but I can’t figure out how to predict them. For now, though, I can block about half of the damage.”

Allura flicked through some of the energy scans from Andún, and sent them to Pidge’s console. “These will help. Andún’s scans will have picked up the information. For now, pause your shields and figure out how to block those detonations.”

“Roger, Princess.”

“This is Princess Allura from the Castle of Lions. Our shielding capabilities will be down for a few ticks while we attempt to pinpoint where the gravitation bombs are coming from. Please alert your fleets.” Although Pidge was using the Altean defensive system remarkably well, the gravitational explosions were tearing through their forces. If Pidge could figure out how to neutralize them before they could go off, they’d be in a much better position.

“Hunk, Lance, what’s your status?”

Hunk’s voice answered first. “All good over here, Princess. I don’t have much to do except keep firing.” There was a pause. “Is there something else I should be doing?”

“No, Hunk. You’re doing fine.” If Allura were to guess, Hunk had probably done more damage to the fleet than any other ship except the castle. “Lance, come in.”

There was another pause, filled in with noises of battle. When Lance didn’t speak, Hunk’s voice came in over the comms again. “He’s pretty close to the carrier fortress, they might be blocking the comms or something. I can tell that the blue lion is fine, though, through the bond.”

Unfortunately, Lance was rather ill equipped for a major battle like this, but he still made himself useful. As long as the blue lion was fine, Allura knew there was no reason to worry. “Alright, thank you, Hunk. Keep up the good work.”

The carrier fortress was slowly maneuvering into the center of the battlefield, closer and closer to Andún’s planetary shield. Although it made strategic sense for such an invincible ship to be in the center of the fight, Allura didn’t like the proximity. It would become a lot harder to shoot down any shield drillers that launched from it.

A warning signaled from the comms. “Princess Allura. Our scans are picking up a large energy weapon preparing to fire from the nose of the carrier fortress. Shields may be necessary.”

Allura cursed. “Pidge, nevermind, we need you back on the shields for a short amount of time. A large energy weapon is preparing to fire from the nose of the carrier fortress. Divert all shield there.”

“Diverting shields.”

The warning signaled again. “Firing in three… two… one…”

Flaring with intensity, an orange beam shot out directly into Andún’s shield, stopping short as it hit Pidge’s shield. As soon as it hit, alarms blared around the control room.

“Allura, the ship’s power is being drained! This is a massive shield driller!” Coran shouted out over the alarms.

“Pidge, drop the shield!”

Out on the battlefield, the orange beam shot forward as their shield dropped, and collided directly with Andún.

As it hit, the comms opened again, the voice on the other side deadly serious. “Allura, that weapon is a large shield driller. Our generators can hold the shield indefinitely, but the section that beam is cutting will expose a generator complex. It has its own localized shield, so we expect that it will be put under siege by ground forces shortly. If it falls, our entire shield will be weak enough to power through. Any help you can offer would be appreciated.”

Allura’s mouth twisted into a line as she thought through a million possibilities. “Coran, you take the controls. Pidge, Keith, Shiro, you’re coming with me to defend the generator. Allura to Andún, we’re sending aid shortly. Where should we land?”

“Sending coordinates now. Thank you, Princess.”

Not as if she had many other options. “Hunk, have you been listening?”

“Yep. As soon as I can get ahold of Lance, I’ll update him, too. I guess I’ll keep fighting here?”

“If we need you two on the ground, we’ll call you. As unfortunate as it is, Andún may have to fight alone for a time. Paladins, come with me!”

* * *

 

Lance, an official-looking memo in hand, stood in front of an elevator with a group of galra, watching as they operated the tech. Really, it wasn’t an elevator so much as it was a gravity tunnel, a travel device that worked (as far as Lance could tell) like the bullet train tunnels back on Earth. But with gravity. The majority of the group seemed to be heading to different ship bays, but Lance had other plans. Having consulted a map, Lance had pinpointed where the power core was.

How well defended it would be, he didn’t really want to think about. Truthfully, Lance had put the kibosh on thinking since he had run through the door in the ship bay. This was his best opportunity to fight; he wouldn’t let nerves paralyze him.

Lance pressed the proper buttons, and with a strange, stomach turning momentum, he flew through the gravity tunnel towards the power core. As he settled on the landing, he surveyed the area. The hallway branched out in three direction, the center one ending at a large, plated door. Two robotic sentries stood guard on either side. Above the door was a sign: Power Core Facility.

Lance kept his expression blank, and walked towards the door. A code console next to a keycard slot… he checked the storage consoles on the side of the galra suit. A keycard! Lance swiped it, but the card slot flashed red. Annoyed, he tried it again, to no avail. He looked into the hall behind him. Surely someone would come along sometime, right? Opening the communications memo, Lance set it on the floor, acting as frustrated as he could.

After five minutes of waiting, the sound of footsteps made him turn around. Hurriedly, Lance picked up the memo, stood up, and walked towards the newcomer, a fierce-looking Galran officer.  
“Thank the Priestess!” Lance cried, speaking quickly. “I have instructions from the command deck, but I don’t have a card to get in. I’m technically a fighter pilot, but they needed more couriers for the battle, so I was one of the ones chosen to do the job. The people didn’t have any extra courier cards, though, and I’ve been stuck out here for, like, ten dobashes--

The galra raised her hand, calling for silence as she walked past him. “I’m fully aware of the situation, soldier. Do what you need to, and hurry back to command deck. They have more memos every tick.” Swiping her keycard, she walked in as the door opened, and Lance walked in with her.

Moving down one of the halls, Lance eyed the directory signs around him. As he had hoped, the power core facility was to scale with the carrier fortress itself, and there had to be hundreds of people working here around the clock. The hallways were packed with scientists, engineers, soldiers, and all manner of other workers. Easy to blend in.

As he walked, Lance found himself in a hall with windows into the central power core room. Rows upon rows of glass quintessence vats sat in the massive, warehouse-sized room. In the center, a giant, glowing, purple crystal rod connected the floor and the ceiling, crackling with energy that reminded Lance of the Druids’ lightning. Glancing to either side, Lance noted the maintenance platforms on edges of the room, and a larger room that Lance assumed was a control room. His eyes narrowed through his mask. That would be his target.

* * *

 

By the time the Altean ship made it to the generator complex, galra ground armies were already amassing around the complex. Shiro’s thoughts were grim as he surveyed the horde of purple. Thankfully, as they’d been informed, this complex only had one entrance point, which was where Allura was steering the ship to. As soon as they landed in a clear space among Andún’s forces, Allura signaled to them to follow her. A large, ashen gray creature was waiting for them, and Allura started talking with them instantly. As they spoke, Shiro surveyed the area.

Just inside the gate, several small shield barricades had been set up, each manned by groups of soldiers. A few larger, spider-like mechanoids prowled around the area, hosting heavy weaponry and, from the looks of it, localized shield generators. Drones and larger hovercraft buzzed in the air, and Shiro knew they could fire through the complex’s shield once the enemy got close enough. It was, all things considered, a very powerful defensive force.

But Shiro had seen the Galra.

An alarm cut through the air, accompanied by flashing orange lights. Then, a group of metallic, black orbs rolled through the gateway. As Shiro yelled out, the bots let out a sickening shrieking sound, and a massive EMP wave rolled over the battlefield, disabling the shield barricades, the drones, the crawlers, and the hovercraft.

Running forward, Shiro called out to the others. “Pidge, Keith, Allura, on me!” Activating his arm, Shiro arrived to cut through the first wave of sentries. On his right, Allura swept an energy whip through another line of EMP bots. To his left, Keith cut through another group of sentries. Pidge, less suited to large scale fights, had stayed back to work on reactivating the shield barricades.

Cutting through the haze of battle, a voice crackled through the comms. “Princess, shield driller ships are en route to the complex! If they cut through, we’re finished!”

“We’ll take care of it!” Allura said. “Shiro!”

“Understood!” Shiro shouted over the noise. “Hunk, Lance! Retreat to the generator complex and shoot down any shield drillers you see!”

“I’m on my way, Shiro, but I still can’t get ahold of Lance! He’s still flying around the carrier fortress, but he’s diverting a decent amount of its firepower.”

Of all the times to go off the comms-- frustration pierced through him. “Fine. Hunk, you’re on your own. Do as much as you can.”

Raising his arm, Shiro swept forward as his full focus turned back to the war around him.

* * *

 

Lance stood outside the door to the control room, fighting down his nerves. Taking a deep breath, he hit the button and walked in. Curious looks turned to panicked shouts as his dual pistols materialized in his hands. With pin-point accuracy, Lance took shot after shot, stunning everyone in the room. After looking around to ensure that none of the alarms had been triggered, he strode over to a part of the control panel.

His eyes scanned over the hundreds of dials, buttons, switches, and levers, landing on a large red dial labelled “POWER GEN.” Three others just like it (perhaps for different sections of the quintessence vats?) were in various places along the panel. Eyes on the power core, Lance cautiously turned one to max. The central structure glowed brighter, and the lightning around it crackled more intensely. Jackpot. He quickly turned the others up as well.

The central energy rod was now a painfully bright white, and the lightning was encroaching along the edges of the quintessence vats. If he could redirect that energy… Leaning closer to the observation window, Lance looked out across the power core room. Presumably, the power ran up from the floor, where the quintessence vats were, and up through the power rod, right? He looked up, but couldn’t see the top of the structure well enough to confirm his theory.

He didn’t have much time now before the galra inevitably reacted. Kicking through the window, Lance jumped down into the giant room, activating the flightsuit’s jetpack to slow his descent. He hit the floor running, past vat after vat of quintessence, each glowing an eerie purple. A menacing crackling noise grew louder and louder as he got closer to the power structure, and he hoped that his suit could withstand the energy storm. After almost a minute of running, he finally reached the giant central structure. The giant crystal rod was anchored on the floor and ceiling by giant machines that Lance assumed refined and split off power respectively.

Morphing his bayard into rifle form, he looked through his sights at the ceiling. Smaller crystal pipes twisted out and around the machine, each crackling with power. Destroy those, and the power that was shouldn’t have an outlet.

Subversion at an end, Lance fired at each one he could see, shattering them and causing shards to rain down onto the floor around him. The lights around him flickered, and then gave out, leaving the giant room illuminated only by the increasingly bright power core and the bubbling quintessence vats. He circled around the machine, firing at every crystal pipeline he could see, until after a minute or so, he was back where he started.

Suddenly, an energy blast flew past him, and he jumped and turned towards the origin point. In the distance, between the vats, glints of silver and purple were making their way towards him. He ducked behind a chunk of machinery, and returned fire, his mind racing. He looked back at the now almost blinding power core. He’d certainly ensured its destruction, and if the lights were any indication, the rest of the ship no longer had any power either. If things continued the way they were heading, _something_ was going to happen, and Lance certainly didn’t want to be there when it did.

A deafening crack sounded over the increasingly intense crackling of the core, and the weight left Lance’s body, and he drifted slightly out of cover. Well, there went the gravity generation. Quickly, he turned and used his jetpack to fly through the maze of quintessence vats, back towards the control room.

He flew in through the broken window, and walked towards the door, now only illuminated in sharp edges by the power core. _Wait._

Lance pressed the button to open the door.

And waited.

A shot of panic went through him as the door didn’t open. Oh, no. There was no power anywhere in the ship, which meant--

“Oh, no no no--”

Lance was trapped here.

* * *

 

Shiro leapt forward onto the front of the galra hoverer, chest heaving as he slashed through the engine and driving it into the ground. He heard a crackle through the fog of battle as Hunk’s voice cut through the chaos. “Shiro, Allura, there are too many shield drillers! I can’t-- get them all alone!”

Anger and a hint of panic pulsed through him. “Hunk, if the galra get into the complex,  Andún’s shield will fall!”

Hunk’s frustration was evident through his voice as he spoke. “I know, but-- I can’t-- maneuver fast enough-- and without Lance--” his voice cut off.

“Just-- do what you can.” Shiro jumped down from the now thoroughly out-of-commission hoverer. He grit his teeth together.

_Where the--_

* * *

 

 _\-- quiznack was Lance!?_ Allura snarled as she slid under a Galra crawler, cutting through it with her energy whip. In the midst of battle, it was easy to channel the rage building in her chest.

The comms crackled to life. “Princess!” The unfamiliar voice said. “The carrier fortress is no longer drilling into our shield! The galra reinforcements have stopped!”

Confusion flashed through her. “What? They just-- stopped?”

The voice was silent for a few seconds. When they spoke again, the disbelief was evident in their voice. “Actually, it would appear-- all weapons have stopped firing, and its shields are down!”

Anxiety pulsed through her as she slammed a galra ground soldier into the ground.

_Why would--_

* * *

 

 _\--the carrier fortress just-- stop?_ Pidge thought as another crawler jolted to life. Unable to resist, she broke in. “It just stopped in the middle of the battlefield? Can you sense any weapons powering up?”

“No! Nothing! The-- the engines have stopped as well! The carrier fortress is-- is now listing towards Andún! It appears to be out of control!”

Pidge spoke again as she ran towards a grounded hovercraft. “Can Andún’s shields handle collision? Is this some sort of kamikaze?”

“I am unfamiliar with the term, but the shields are kinetic, and no material collision could weaken them!” the voice replied. “The carrier fortress seems to have lost all functionality!”

Confusion flooded through her.

_How could the entire carrier fortress--_

* * *

 

 _\--just fall out of the sky?_ Keith thought, his teeth bared as he slashed through sentry after sentry. In the middle of battle, he usually only half listened to the comms, but-- an entire carrier fortress?

Allura spoke next. “Be on guard for galra trickery! If this is-- as it seems, we are in a much better position, but be careful! Do you have any idea what caused this?”

“None! We will update you as the situation progresses!”

Something was tickling at the back of Keith’s head. Wasn’t-- hadn’t-- someone said something about the carrier fortress? It nagged at him as he twirled his blade through another two sentries. He was certain there was something--

Then he almost stopped cold in middle of the fight as he realized what it was. “Wait, Hunk, didn’t you say-- the blue lion was--

* * *

 

\--near the carrier fortress?”

As Keith spoke, a tangible, overwhelming panic shot through the bond from the blue lion, unbalancing Hunk and his lion.  “What-- the blue lion--”

Shiro’s concerned voice came through the comms. “Hunk? What’s going on?”

“I-- the blue lion is panicking! Something’s happening! Shiro I don’t know-- Lance--”

“Hunk, it’s okay. Everyone is alright. Listen to my voice,” Shiro’s voice didn’t do much through the panic overwhelming the bond, but it calmed him enough to speak.

“The blue lion is panicking, something’s happened to Lance, he’s in danger--”

“It’s alright, I’m sure he’s fine--”

Shiro’s voice was cut off as Coran’s voice unexpectedly came through the comms. “Paladins, Princess, the blue lion is tearing into the side of the carrier fortress!”

Unable to resist the blue lion’s terror anymore, Hunk and his lion shot up into the sky towards the carrier fortress.

* * *

 

The power core was now too bright to look at, and the flashes of lightning coming off it crackled against the glass of the control room. Lance could practically feel the storm of energy building as he frantically shot at the door with a rifle that he knew couldn’t even cut through it. A strange, cold numbness was overtaking his extremities as shock flooded his system. He stumbled back, reaching out for Blue, even though he knew she couldn't hear him.

_Blue-- I love you-- I don't know if-- I'm sorry--_

The noise around him was painful, but Lance could barely hear it as he fell to his knees, his jaw slack and his arms loose at his sides. Images of his family flashed through his mind--

_Mama--_

Was this it--

_Veronica--_

Please, just once more--

_Isa--_

Blue?

_Marco--_

PANIC--

_Luis--_

“No, Blue--! Don’t, you can’t--” He felt his mouth move but couldn’t hear his voice through the noise--

 _LANCE_ \--

She was getting closer, too close, she couldn’t survive--

Giant blue claws ripped through the door, and a jaw crashed through and swallowed him whole--

She was flying, but she wasn’t fast enough--

Then, blinding light and a painful ringing.

Then, nothing at all.


End file.
